Patients at Raritan Bay Medical Center are increasingly adding an important new dimension to their healthcare experience: integrative health. Many Americans may have never heard of integrative health, but this holistic movement is making a difference at hospitals across the United States.According to a 2011 American Hospital Association survey, 42 percent of U.S. hospitals are responding to patient demand and providing one or more complementary or integrative therapies, up from 37 percent in 2007. Integrative health is a system of healthcare which fosters a cooperative relationship among all medical professionals involved, leading toward optimal attainment of the physical, mental/emotional, social and spiritual aspects of health. It encompasses conventional forms of diagnosis and treatment, including traditional medicines, medical procedures, and surgery. Integrative health providers may include medical doctors, osteopathic doctors, naturopathic doctors, chiropractors and homeopathic doctors, nurses and other trained professionals. Practitioners are trained in specialty fields such as massage or guided imagery, which can help alleviate pain and anxiety before and after medical procedures and surgery or make patients more comfortable during a hospital stay. Doctors, nurses, staff and patients alike at the medical center are bonding with the philosophy of integrative health and its whole-person approach — designed to treat the person, not just the disease. Patients and their families may opt for therapies to sustain them through a surgical procedure or a lengthy illness. Once they return home, patients may continue the practice to improve their longer-term quality of life.
A guiding principle within the Integrative Health Services is to use therapies that have some high-quality evidence to support them. Massage, guided imagery, Reiki,Tai Chi, Qigong, energy medicine, and reflexology are just a few of the therapies available. Wellness programs and pet therapy are also available. Services are administered by qualified, credentialed practitioners who make daily rounds and provided free for patients in the hospital. Referrals can also be requested. Outpatient services are available for a fee.
An integrated philosophy of care can help boost one’s immune system, alleviate stress and anxiety, reduce pain, improve a patient’s emotional state, help lower blood pressure, reduce nausea, fatigue and muscle tension, help with smoking cessation, and comfort and support individuals with cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses.
Internist Nina K. Regevik, M.D., FACP, ABIHM, is co-director of Integrative Health Services at Raritan Bay Medical Center with Paula O’Neill, M.S., R.N.-B.C. Since 2004, the program’s qualified and credentialed practitioners have provided integrative therapies to enhance patients’ health and well-being, both at the hospital and on an outpatient basis, with complementary medicine supporting the mind-body-spirit connection. Scheduled classes and private sessions are provided for a fee. For more information or an appointment, visit www.rbmc.org/integrativehealth or call 732-324-5257.