Integrator Blog News & Reports

Integration, by nature, asks us to open our peripheral visions. We are served to look at the whole of the field. We need to develop new fascia, new connectivity. Opportunities crop up in new places. The Integrator Blog News and Reports is meant to provide you with information, insights and tools to enhance integrated care in the environment you serve.

- John Weeks, publisher-editor

We know from a CodeBlueNow! Pulse survey that 69% of voters in red state Iowa think licensed practitioners like chiropractors, acupuncturists and naturopathic physicians should be included in basic benefits. Now a follow-up survey, using the same questions, which CodeBlueNow! commissioned from Gilmore research, we learn that 75% of blue state Washington State voters also want these complementary and integrative medicine practitioners included. The question CBN's CEO Kathleen O'Connor asks is: Why are the presidential candidates are not reflecting this public opinion?
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Employer Connection: Chrysler’s Health & Disability Leaders on Their Exploration of Integrative Health Pilot Projects

The Integrator previously reported outcomes of a pilot integrative care mind-body project at Chrysler. 55% of chronic pain patients reported being pain free following the combination of somatic muscle therapy, hypnotherapy, group process and lifestyle counseling. Chrysler is taking the pilot into two new directions this year. But what led them to this exploration? Where is it headed? How does it fit with wellness thinking? As part of the Integrator's IHPM-sponsored examination of the employer connection, I interviewed Kate Kohn-Parrott, Chrysler's director of integrated health care and disability, and Teresa Bartlett, MD, the medical director who directly oversaw the program.
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Expanding the Family: More Comments of Holistic MDs and Naturopathic Doctors Co-Convening in 2008

One commentator on this deepening exchange between naturopathic physicians and holistic physicians notes that "most of us are quite tribal in our DNA." He references the emotions ignited when the two guilds chose to co-locate their 2008 conferences. Here are comments from American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA) trustees Roca, Roberts, Gmeiner and Sands, all MDs; from American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) board members Alschuler, Guiltinan and Clark, all NDs; from Bill Benda, MD, who sits on both boards; and one from a past AHMA president, Manahan, who advocated closer relationships between the two in his presidency 17 years ago. These are followed by a quick look at some plans, in development, for their August get-together. A hopeful exchange!
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Integrative Clinics and Wellness: Inner Harmony's Amato and Szydlowski on the Deep Lake Strategy

Peter Amato and Steve Szydlowski, DHA, MBA, consulted on the integrative wellness center that would be associated with the 313 acre Deep Lake sustainable community and resort envisioned for rural Michigan and reported here in December 2007. The two, founder and CEO, respectively, with Inner Harmony Group, faced significant challenges based on the Deep Lake location, population and weather. This Integrator double-interview guides you through their process in creating a combined integrative wellness center-spa strategy.
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Brief Notes on Organizational Action in CAM and Integrative Medicine

Action abounds. Here are short notices of activity from the American Botanical Council, American Board of (Integrative) Holistic Medicine, American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Bravewell Collaborative, American Chiropractic Association, Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care, Hawaii Integrative Medicine Consortium, American Association for Health Freedom, American Public Health Association, Council for Responsible Nutrition and ... a taste of CAM developments in Italy.
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Resources

Integrator Archive by Subject for January-June 2007
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Integrator Archive by Subject for 2006: All Hot-linked
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