March 2014 John Weeks Integrator Round-Up

by John Weeks, Publisher/Editor of The Integrator Blog News & Reports

  

Department of Defense report to Congress details military use of CAM

On January 8, 2014, the U.S. Department of Defense submitted required testimony to U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) that "explains the criteria used to evaluate integrative medicine programs, the results of those evaluations and the number of people receiving services, by branch of service and location." The 24-page document includes the following summary information:

1) FINDINGS: The review found that 120 Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs), 99 in the continental United States (CONUS) and 21outside the continental United States (OCONUS), offer a total of 275 complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) programs. Active duty (AD) military members used 213,515 CAM patient visits in calendar year (CY) 2012 with the most visits for chiropractic care (73%) and acupuncture therapy (11%). In addition, the United States Army (USA) Medical Research and Materiel Command (MRMC) funds CAM related research to identify safe an

by John Weeks, Publisher/Editor of The Integrator Blog News & Reports

Policy

Integrative Clinics

Academic Integrative Medicine

Professions and Organizations

Books

People & Awards

Policy 

Department of Defense report to Congress details military use of CAM

On January 8, 2014, the U.S. Department of Defense submitted required testimony to U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) that "explains the criteria used to evaluate integrative medicine programs, the results of those evaluations and the number of people receiving services, by branch of service and location." The 24-page document includes the following summary information.

• FINDINGS: The review found that 120 Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs), 99 in the continental United States (CONUS) and 21outside the continental United States (OCONUS), offer a total of 275 complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) programs. Active duty (AD) military members used 213,515 CAM patient visits in calendar year (CY) 2012 with the most visits for chiropractic care (73%) and acupuncture therapy (11%). In addition, the United States Army (USA) Medical Research and Materiel Command (MRMC) funds CAM related research to identify safe and effective therapies to treat MHS patients.
• EVALUATION: Various assessment tools are being utilized by many of the sites offering CAM therapies. Patient assessment/feedback, qualitative assessment by the provider, pre- and post-appointment questionnaires, patient satisfaction questionnaires, and measurement of physical improvement are being used to evaluate the CAM therapies offered to AD military members. Patients reported improvement in symptoms, reduction in anxiety, improved sleep and decline in psychological symptoms across the CAM modalities in use.
• CONCLUSION: There is wide-spread use of CAM therapies across the MHS. Providers and patients were interested in using CAM therapies even though many are not evidence-based. Some providers have added CAM therapies as an adjunct to conventional therapies for a holistic approach to patient management.
• RECOMMENDATIONS: ...The MHS will evaluate CAM programs for safety and effectiveness, as well as cost-effectiveness. As resources allow, the Department will consider widespread implementation in the MHS of cost-effective CAM programs meeting TRICARE guidelines for safety and effectiveness.

Comment: It is common in integrative health and medicine circles to say that the military is leading the way. Some even suggest that wounded warriors will break down conventional medicine’s barriers to inclusion in the way that the HIV-AIDs community shifted FDA’s slow-moving acceptance practices. (Think Military Buyer’s Club.) Findings on the number of facilities where selected therapies are found include: chiropractic (59), acupuncture (83), massage (9), yoga (11), clinical nutritional therapy (68), naturopathic medicine (1), breath therapies, biofeedback (13), and meditation (14). (Thanks to Joan Walter of the Samueli Institute for the link.)

NCMIC Foundation supports presence of licensed integrative practitioners in the nation's workforce debate

The 10th Annual Health Workforce Research Conference of the American Association of Medical Colleges will have a new presence, thanks to a visionary grant from the NCMIC Foundation. The grant, to the Academic Consortium for Complementary and

Alternative Health Care (ACCAHC), will allow the organization to be present and exhibit at the gathering of workforce leaders. In addition, the organization will be able to print and make available to the 150-200 workforce policy leaders hard-copies of its highly-regarded white paper Meeting the Nation's Primary Care Needs: Current and Prospective Roles of Doctors of Chiropractic and Naturopathic Medicine, Practitioners of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and Direct-Entry Midwives. Notably, the meeting is the AAMC's first that focuses broadly on the "health workforce" rather than merely the needs for medical doctors and osteopaths.

Comment: NCMIC and the NCMIC Foundation have a long history of investing in forward thinking and visionary projects, including kick-starting the field of chiropractic research a half-century ago and its more recent series of reports on chiropractic’s future. This grant is timely. Chiropractors and other licensed integrative health and medicine practitioners are formally included as part of the professionals to be considered in U.S. workforce planning under the Affordable Care Act (see Section 5101, here). ACCAHC has prioritized inserting the 350,000 licensed practitioners, who presently are already relieving a portion of the Nation's primary care burden, into proactive consideration in the workforce dialogue. In addition, the white paper, co-led by Michael Goldstein, PhD, a senior researcher at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, and this writer, has been called by workforce expert Richard "Buz" Cooper, MD "the best compendium of thoughtful analysis and information on these disciplines that exists. I admire the scholarship of this document." NCMIC Foundation is supporting a tremendous opportunity to leap-frog into the consciousness of workforce leaders.

Anti-discrimination petition filed at Change.org by expectant mother seeking coverage of licensed midwife; IHPC endorses, and KHN covers

When expectant mother Stephanie Taylor learned that her desired practitioner for her birth process, a licensed midwife, was not covered by her health plan as she expected under the Non-Discrimination in Healthcare, Section 2706 of the Affordable Care Act, she filed a petition at Change.org. Abide by the Law (Section 2706) and Stop Discriminating was quickly endorsed by the Integrative Healthcare Policy Consortium. As of this writing the petition had garnered 2010 of the 10,000 signatures needed to get on the government's radar. In an e-note to interested parties, Taylor writes: "Since our last contact, my appeals have been rejected 2 more times. One from the Department of Managed Health Care and again from Blue Shield of California. In both instances I specifically appealed based on the Harkin Amendment. Both groups rejected my appeal without once even mentioning the Harkin Amendment. In fact, during this entire process I have not once been able to get any agency to address this law. They all seem to want to act like it doesn't exist, which since they are breaking it, I guess they are setting up their argument to be ignorance." Meantime, Taylor managed to capture the attention of Kaiser Health News (KHN), which published Health Law Provides No Guarantees Of Access To Midwives, Birthing Centers on March 4, 2014.

Comment: Never underestimate the power of an expectant mother. Taylor spoke with me after seeing my Huffington Post piece on Non-Discrimination: A 'Big Honking Lawsuit' to Advance Integrative Medicine and Health?  Take a moment, click in to her site above, and go sign. No harm. Perhaps some good! This is terrific citizen action. Meantime, the KHN piece is a significant mainstream piece on 2706.

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Integrative Clinics 

ND-LAc recounts experience as Medicaid-covered practitioner for Washington FQHC Healthpoint

In a recent article in the newsletter for the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians, Chris Krumm, ND, LAc recounts developments in his 7 years of service as a practitioner in two Healthpoint clinics during which time his scope of practice as a naturopathic physician expanded and Medicaid opened coverage of his naturopathic services. Krumm notes that "many of my patients are Hispanic and prefer to use a natural medicine approach, but they will use conventional medicine when really needed or when a natural option is unaffordable." The Medicaid coverage began January 1, 2014. Writes Krumm:  "Just a few weeks into Medicaid coverage, I’ve already seen an increase in pediatric visits, and patients previously lost due to Medicaid barriers are beginning to come back. I’ve seen more walk-in patients, more acute triage patients, and more of Medicaid’s most difficult patients – those on disability." Healthpoint, the former Community Health Centers of King County, led by Tom Trompeter, MHA, presently is a network of 11 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Trompeter's reflections on integrative medicine in a patient-centered "health" home are here.

Comment: Krumm's statement that Hispanic patients would "prefer" his services certainly will come as a surprise to wonks who, since the Eisenberg study in 1993, have viewed "naturopathic" and "integrative" services as choices of the wealthy. Krumm seems to suggest a strong preference for his approach that is now kicking in big time as his naturopathic services can be covered.

Academic Integrative Centers in Ohio open doors to Traditional Chinese Medicines

The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently reported that there is a Chinese Herbal Therapy Clinic at the Center for Integrative Medicine at Cleveland Clinic and that this month Chinese herbal medicine consultations began at University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center via the Connor Integrative Medicine Network. The opening of these services followed passage of a law licensing acupuncturists in the state. According to the report, Massachusetts-based Crane Herbs is one of three sources of TCM products at the Connor site while it is the company of choice at Cleveland Clinic. The services are embraced as complements by integrative internist Melissa Young, MD who called the availability of Chinese herbal therapy "an incredible step for patient care," adding: "The beauty of it - it's so complementary."

Boise's St. Alphonsus Medical Center begins referral service for prenatal yoga therapy

Boise, Idaho Yoga therapist Jennifer Knight, ERT 200, RYT 500 and Naomi Jones of Idaho Health and Yoga Awareness were the catalysts but the decision of St. Alphonsus Medical Center to endorse prenatal yoga therapy came via a personal experience of  Mary Janowiak, MD, an OB/GYN at the medical center. Janowiak did prenatal yoga with her own baby and, according to the article here, "thinks it's all those head and hand stands at 36 weeks that flipped her baby head-down; otherwise she would have needed a caesarean section."  Janowiak is presently handing a referral card to her patients "referring them to prenatal yoga at the Yoga Tree, or the Birkeland Maternity Center in Nampa." Janowiak believes that an "expansion of yoga offerings will benefit the overall health of the population." She notes that:  "We're all concerned about the direction our country is going. Having one more program (like this) to emphasize health is better than just taking care of people when they get sick." Jones wrote in a note to the Integrator that "we are planning to expand the 'yoga referral' to include other special populations in the future such as obesity, diabetes, low back pain, asthma."

Comment: Kudos to Knight, Jones and to Janowiak. Integration and health creation advances one relationship at a time. (Thanks to the IHPC’s Alyssa Wostrel for the link.)

Manahan and Snider respond to article on the Secret Sauce and Positive Side-Effects Via Whole Person Integrative Medicine

The article published in the Integrator, the Huffington Post and in Alternative Medicine, Secret Sauce and Positive Side Effects in Treatment Via Whole-Person Integrative Medicine, elicited two useful responses from Integrator editorial advisers. The first is from holistic and integrative medicine leader Bill Manahan, MD and the second from Pamela Snider, ND, founder and executive editor of the Foundations of Naturopathic Medicine Project.

Here is Manahan: "Nice article in the Huff Post.  For a number of years, I have been teaching the medical students something like that.  Here is what I teach them. In chronic care, outpatient, primary care medicine, there are three important elements that help patients get better.

1.  About one-third of how well your patient does depends on the practitioner's presence. By that I mean how physically, emotionally, and spiritually attuned is the practitioner. Are we connected with our spiritual essence, and are we embracing our energetic and infinite nature?

2.  About one-third of how well your patient does depends on the practitioner's intention. By that I mean, how compassionate, forgiving, listening, and loving are we when we are with that patient?

3.  About one-third of how well your patient does depends on what therapeutic option you use. By that I mean is this the right person and the right problem to use a pharmaceutical, a herb, some mind/body exercises, Chinese Medicine, nutritional advice, or one of multiple other "treatments."

Manahan adds: "I tell them they will be amazed how often all they need to do with patients are the first two.  That stimulates the healing potential of each person, and many patients will return in a few weeks doing much better - and you have not yet begun your 'treatment options.'"

Here is Snider: "EXCELLENT article-great thesis John!!! Love that secret sauce, very tasty. Nice featuring of your esteemed wife and thought processes. That holistic care in the ‘sauce'? It is based on the understanding in naturopathic medicine that all diseases are one disease (the ill patient) and are fundamentally based on a violation of natural laws of healthy physiology-poor health and 'disease' is developed by disrespecting what determines health- the determinants of health Therapeutic Order, Level One."

Snider continues: "We ND's look at the totality of the equation (Zeff, Snider, Mitchell) of health promoting (+) and disturbing (-) factors, and get the plus signs to overpower the minus signs...builds vitality, stimulates vital force and triggers the innate healing response (VMN) and whammo. You are treating disease by restoring 'the health.' Lindlahr called this (1913) The Philosophy of the Unity of Disease and Cure, through Nature Cure and Clark (Australia) 1925 called this “The Unity of Cause and Cure Through Nature Cure.”

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Academic Integrative Medicine 

Bastyr teaching clinic ranks in the top among all Puget Sound primary care clinics

A report card from the Washington Health Alliance once again found that, from the perspective of “patient experience,” the Bastyr Natural Health Center ranks among the top of all primary care facilities in the northwest. The study is entitled Your Voice Matters: Patient Experience with Primary Care Providers in the Puget Sound Region, 2014 Community Checkup Overview. The clinics were rated on four categories: timeliness, care and appointments; provider communication; courteousness of office staff; and the patient’s “overall rating of the provider.” In all areas, Bastyr ranked among the top performers. The WHA says that “effective communication between provider and patient is the most critical element of the patient’s experience.” This was the second report card in a row in which Bastyr’s patients ranked the facility highly. Bastyr’s release on the report is here.

Comment: I don’t suppose the anti-CAM and anti-naturopathic medicine “science-based prejudice” writers will decide to pick up on this evidence (a priori - by its positive outcomes for naturopathic care – “non-scientific”) and publish it to their audience. Congrats to the Bastyr team.

Consortium publishes standards for competencies for integrative medicine fellowships

Leading educators in the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM) have published, in the prominent journal Academic Medicine, a paper entitled Developing and implementing core competencies for integrative medicine fellowships. The paper, led by Melinda Ring, MD and Victor Sierpina, MD, is the result of a two-year CAHCIM commitment in 2010 to draft integrative medicine fellowship core competencies. The authors note that currently13 clinical fellowships in integrative medicine exist in the United States.

Comment: The publication and the CAHCIM project behind it are each timely. The integrative MD field is in what is expected to be the first year of test-taking for "Board Certification in Integrative Medicine" through the American Board of Physician Specialties. Those certified must already be certified in another MD specialty and then complete a recognized fellowship or a residential, US Department of Education-accredited program to become a licensed acupuncturist, chiropractic doctor or naturopathic physician.

Southwest Colleges of Naturopathic Medicine receives 2014 Business Excellence Award from Tempe Chamber of Commerce

Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine received the 2014 Business Excellence Award from the Tempe Chamber of Commerce on February 28, 2014.  A statement from the college includes this from Mary Ann Miller, CEO of the Tempe Chamber: “The Business Excellence Awards recognize outstanding businesses in our community. Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine is an amazing company dedicated to their customers, their staffs and the community. We are proud they’re part of the Tempe Chamber, and we celebrate their continued success.”  The release notes that the award recognizes SCNM for its “innovation, growth and commitment to the community” including “many educational and patient care ‘firsts’ [such as] a revised cutting-edge curriculum, the industry’s first job board, NDjoblink.com, and moving the teaching clinic to electronic medical health records.”  SCNM has also broken ground on a new 47,000 sq. foot building on the campus with a naturopathic pain/rehabilitation clinic, teaching kitchen, open-to-the-public library, healthy café, fitness area, and space for public courses.

Comment: Such an award is not only an honor and brag-point for the college. In this case, it comes via a multi-year commitment of SCNM president Paul Mittman, ND, EdD to participation with his local chamber. It also signifies a kind of community arrival. The institution is honored for its business practices and values, rather than specifically for its medicine and health care. Sometimes such a back door entrance of the medicine into consciousness can be the shortest distance to increased recognition of the institution’s broader healthcare mission.

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Professions and Organizations 

Acupuncture association president Michael Jabbour taken to task in "AAAOM - Making Promises it Can't Keep"

The present dire situation at the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) has led Acupuncture Today publisher Donald Peterson to take the leaders of the national organization for the licensed acupuncture field to task. In AAAOM - Making Promises it Can't Keep, Peterson begins by noting that in the last four years membership has dwindled by 50%, approximately 690 to 341, and revenues by 60% ($605,000 to $243,000). Five board members and an executive director recently departed. AAAOM president Michael Jabbour, MS, LAc attributes this to "a differing of opinions on the current top priorities: legislation and a unified competency model."

Peterson puts the source of dissension in Jabbour's lap. He cites resignation letters that speak of an "uncomfortable and controlled board environment coupled with a lack of healthy discussion and collaboration among board members limiting the ability to move projects forward." According to the article only 341 of the profession's 30,000+ licensed practitioners (1%) have chosen to become AAAOM members. The article notes that the profession's journal editor has not been paid and recently resigned and that the AAAOM has not held an annual meeting since 2010.  Peterson concludes: "These issues paint a tragic picture about the current status of the AAAOM leadership and the impact it is having on the profession. Other health care professions are competing in the race for health care reform, while the AAAOM stands motionless on the sidelines embroiled in power plays and exclusionist behavior." 

Comment: The AAAOM website presently (March 9, 2014) greets one with the following: "We are aware of an article published in Acupuncture Today about the status of the AAAOM. The article includes many errors, unsubstantiated claims and may be slanderous to AAAOM volunteers. The AAAOM is in the process of drafting a response to the article." As an observer of the organization and its leadership, my view is that Peterson has performed a service with this exacting account, which he based in part on interviews with Jabbour and the individual who is supposed to succeed him, Joshua Saul, MAcOM, LAc. The one significant place where I would amend this story is merely to reference that the national professional association activity of this profession has been a mess and battleground for at least two decades. Problems with organizing acupuncturists and getting them to see the value in a coordinated national effort pre-dated Jabbour's divisive reign in what appears via this article to be a sort of CAM-noir terror. Certainly a good starting place for healing would be, to steal a phrase from the naturopathic profession, "remove the obstacles to cure." Jabbour and those devoted to him should exit.

Holistic medical organizations AHMA and ABIHM link together in new Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine

A recent issue of the newsletter of the American Holistic Medical Association includes a column by president Molly Roberts, MD and another by executive director Steve Cadwell that detail a significant move in the organizational foundation for activity in the field of integrative and holistic medicine. Write Roberts: "Our American Holistic Medical Association is in the midst of an ongoing evolution, one closely linked with the evolution of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine as the two become one entity called the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine(AIHM). Cadwell writes: "In December, the AHMA Board of Directors endorsed the creation of the new Academy and signed off on a Letter of Intent with the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine to outline how the sister organizations might go about joining forces and/or to identify how else the two might align for mutual support and benefit."

Comment: These developments, with which I have been involved as an adviser, are part of the formation of a fascinating new entity in the integrative health and medicine space. I will be reporting on developments in greater length soon. Stay tuned!

ACAM grants first physician membership to chiropractor, CTCA's James Rosenberg, DC, and names him to advisory board

The American College for the Advancement of Medicine (ACAM) has announced that it has appointed James Rosenberg, DC, the national director of chiropractic for Cancer Treatment Centers of America, to its Advisory Board. The February 27, 2014 ACAM press release notes that Rosenberg is the first chiropractic physician to be appointed to the board and that he is the first chiropractic member. Rosenberg "uses chiropractic treatment to relieve stress and pain in the muscles, bones and joints of cancer patients." Rosenberg earned his chiropractic degree from National University of Health Sciences and serves on the Integrative Practice Council of the American Chiropractic Association.

International College of Integrative Medicine offers $20,000 planning grant for a major chelation study

The International College of Integrative Medicine (ICIM) is offering a grant of $20,000 to stimulate further research on chelation therapy to treat vascular disease and/or diabetic complications. The Grant will be called the James P. Carter Memorial Grant for EDTA Chelation Research. According to a February 19, 2014 e-news note, the funds are to be used to plan a significant study. Applicants must submit an explanation of their proposal including such things as “the likelihood of a successful outcome based on previous studies, the possibilities for funding of the entire study, and involvement of experienced researchers and clinicians.”  The deadline for proposals is May 31, 2014.

Comment: Looks like a smart strategic move to support research that will build on recent positive outcomes. It is particularly valuable to support research proposals by those who you know, ahead of time, are seeking to create the "likelihood of a successful outcome based on previous studies." Rarely is such objectivity so explicitly solicited. Credit ICIM for its strategic decision to offer this grant, if not for any diplomacy in its public message.

Naturopathic profession's organ, Natural Medicine Journal, publishes special oncology issue

The Natural Medicine Journal, the official journal of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP), has published a Special Issue: Oncology. The issue begins with an interview with Columbia University’s Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, recently elected to head the Society for Integrative Oncology and ends with a discussion with Heather Zwickey, PhD at the Helfgott Institute at National College of Natural Medicine, on chemotherapy-induced immuno-suppression. In opening comments, publisher Karolyn Gazella calls the issue "the collaboration critical to bring about the seismic shift that must occur in cancer research and prevention."

Comment: As a person disposed to focus more on naturopathic medicine’s potential value as a model of primary care -- the original integrative medicine as Tracy Gaudet, MD has honored it -- I find it fascinating how much the field has made a name for itself at the other end of things, in cancer treatment. Greenlee may be the first ND to head SIO but it won't be long until there is a second. Her colleague Suzanna Zick, ND, MPH, at the University of Michigan, is the integrative cancer organization's president-elect.

From "drugless" to "drug-free" - American Chiropractic Association endorses position of Chiropractic Summit

In a recent meeting of its House of Delegates, the American Chiropractic Association endorsed a profession-wide statement, from the Chiropractic Summit, that chiropractic is a "drug-free approach." The shift from "drugless" to “drug-free” is captured here: "When the [Summit] first approached the task, it realized that the profession could not legitimately use the word 'drugless' to describe itself. Surprised? It makes sense when you consider the FDA classifies the use of certain vitamins and supplements to treat a condition a form of drug use. With so many doctors of chiropractic using nutritional therapy to help their patients, it was obvious to even the most conservative among us that 'drug-free approach' more accurately describes what we all do."

Comment: Fascinating step and media release. My father, a somewhat salty fellow from a small town in Southern Idaho, used to reference certain professionals who enjoyed "separating fly shit from pepper." The chiropractors’ clarifying language feels a bit like that even though internally this endorsement symbolizes what must be a significant, negotiated agreement.  The average Joe or Suzy is not going to see a difference between “drug-free" and "drug-less." I am not sure I understand myself. Yet the awareness of the use of natural pharmaceuticals is clearly an acknowledgement of present clinical and organizational practices in a profession for which nearly every significant initiative is sponsored by supplement manufacturer Standard Process.

National, multidisciplinary certification for health coaches advances  

The National Consortium for Credentialing Health and Wellness Coaches keeps advancing in its step-wise way toward national, multidisciplinary standards for the field. According to a recent newsletter from Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, CWP, from the California Institute for Integral Studies, a workgroup for a "Job Task Analysis" for the emerging field will gather in Indianapolis on March 15-16, 2014. A 12-member panel consisting of educators and coaches will have two days "to figure it all out." Jordan calls this "the critical first step in advancing the standards in the health coaching field." Jordan is on the organization's board of directors.

Comment: The idea of a discipline-neutral, shared “ownership” of a health coaching credential is a terrific opportunity to foster interprofessionalism as well as to move a field that is focused on the engagement strategies on which profound reform of the medical industry, toward a system that focuses on health creation, depends. Credit Jordan and the rest of the team for continuing to persevere to bring these standards forward.

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Books 

Holistic nurse Lucia Thornton publishes Whole Person Caring

Integrator advisor and integrative-holistic medicine pioneer Bill Manahan, MD, says of Whole Person Caring: An Interprofessional Model for Healing and Wellness: “Finally, a book that puts together what health and healing are really all about! It describes simply, thoroughly, and brilliantly how to achieve well-being through whole-person caring. This book will change how we view health, and it will help create healing for both patients and providers. I loved this book.” The author is Lucia Thornton, MSN, RN, AHN-BC, a long-time consultant and leader in the holistic nursing field. The "whole person caring" model Thornton describes, and which she helps systems adopt, is said to be a key factor in the success of Three Rivers Hospital in receiving the 2004 Norman Cousins Award from the Fetzer Institute.

Integrative pediatrician Scott Shannon, DO's Mental Health for the Whole Child published by Norton

Integrative psychiatrist Scott Shannon, DO operates what may be the country's largest and most comprehensive integrative mental health clinic, Wholeness Center: a place for collaborative care in Fort Collins, Colorado. The 30-year clinician has recently seen published, via Norton, Mental Health for the Whole Child: Moving Young Children from Disease and Disorder to Balance and Wellness. The book's core is Shannon's learning from his extensive clinical practice. This knitted together by a mix of evidence and philosophy. Marketing copy for Shannon ‘s book refers to it as a "guidebook" that "creates a theoretical foundation for integrative mental health that acknowledges the power of new discoveries like epigenetics and neuroplasticity." Shannon is immediate past president of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine and an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado-Children's Hospital in Denver. 

Comment: One distinguishing feature of Shannon's work is the depth of his commitment to interprofessionalism and his respect for other disciplines. An unusual and possibly unique manifestation of Shannon’s commitment is that the co-owners of his Wholeness Center include both mental health and naturopathic medical professionals.

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People & Awards  

James Gordon, MD and Tieraona Lowdog, MD receive 2014 awards from the Integrative Healthcare Symposium

The increasingly robust, interprofessional gathering, the Integrative Healthcare Symposium, chose to honor two medical doctors with its 2014 awards. The Visionary Award was granted to James Gordon, MD, the integrative psychiatrist, founder of the Center for Mind Body Medicine at Georgetown University and past chair of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. Gordon has recently been focusing much of his energy on using mind-body approaches to help large and small groups in community medicine and public health arenas. He is addressing the needs of populations in such hotspots of stress and pressure as Bosnia and the West Bank. In addition, Tieraona Lowdog, MD, the education director for the fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine was granted the 2014 Leadership Award. Lowdog is a unique integrative MD whose clinical experience includes time as both a midwife and a massage therapist. The next IHS conference will be February 19-21, 2015.

Jerrilyn Cambron, DC, PhD elected president of the Massage Therapy Foundation

The Massage Therapy Foundation (MTF) has announced that Jerrilyn Cambron, DC, MPH, PhD, LMT was elected to a two-year term as president of MTF. Cambron is research professor at the multidisciplinary National University of Health Sciences. Cambron is also a licensed massage therapist and founder of MassageNet, a practice-based research network for massage therapists. The associate editor for the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies also writes a column for Massage and Bodywork and serves on the Research Working Group of the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care. She succeeds Ruth Werner, PhD.

Comment: Any observer of the roller-coaster activity in the massage field - with its trade vs. profession identity issues - will know that the Massage Therapy Foundation has consistently drawn many of the best in the field onto its board and into its presidency. Cambron is one more in a succession that goes back to Janet Kahn, PhD, LMT and includes Washington State-based policy and coverage leader, author Diana Thompson, LMP, as well as Werner. Expect good things in Cambron's term.

American Botanical Council and American Herbal Products Association announce 2014 awards

The Anaheim trade show for the natural products industry is always marked by the herbal medicine and herbal industry awards. Here are those recognized in 2014.

American Botanical Council

• Gordon M. Cragg, PhD, received the Norman R. Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical Research Award for 2013. Dr. Cragg is a former research director of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he was involved in the NCI's search for new cancer medicines from plants and other natural sources.
• Herbal Advocate Sara Katz received the American Botanical Council Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award
• Co-authors, herbalists, clinicians, and researchers Kerry Bone and Simon Mills receives ABC's James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award
• Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd., of Osaka, Japan was given the Varro E. Tyler Commercial Investment in Phytomedicinal Research Award for its “rigorous scientific and clinical research of its products, including its
  top-selling, clinically researched odorless Aged Garlic Extract.”

 

American Herbal Products Association awards were announced here.

• Daniel Gagnon, owner of Herbs, Etc., was awarded the AHPA Herbal Hero Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to AHPA committees and initiatives.
• Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps was awarded the AHPA Herbal Industry Leader Award for taking steps above and beyond normal business practices to advance the herbal products industry.
• Lyle Craker, PhD, was awarded the AHPA Herbal Insight Award in recognition of his efforts to significantly increase and further knowledge and understanding of botanicals and their uses.
• Six members of the VIRGO executive team were awarded a special AHPA Visionary Award for supporting and promoting the industry's responsible growth through education.

Payment expert Anthony Hamm, DC elected president of the American Chiropractic Association

In a note to members sub-headed Dr. Anthony Hamm Brings History of Interprofessional Cooperation and Payment Policy Expertise, the American Chiropractic Association announced that Anthony Hamm, DC has been elected to head the organization. Hamm made history in 2011 as the first chiropractic physician to be elected co-chair of the American Medical Association's (AMA) Health Care Professionals Advisory Committee Review Board (HCPAC) which develops recommendations on billing codes.

In assuming his position, Hamm told chiropractic leaders that the profession "possess(es) the opportunity to shape health care into a conservative-first approach, to promote health, wellness and preventive strategies and to promote patient-centered, evidence-informed health care."

Comment: Hamm and the A.C.A. would be served to focus right here on the note that Hamm struck - promotion of more conservative treatment - especially amidst the growing plague of opioid overuse.

American Chiropractic Association announces 2014 awards – Harkin, Overland, DeVries, Mayer

• Chiropractor of the Year Award, was presented to immediate past-president Keith Overland, DC, for navigating massive changes within the association, the profession and the nation's health care system. Retiring U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) received the Humanitarian of the Year Award recognizing his commitment to patients' access to the health care provider of their choice.
• Renee M. DeVries, DC, chiropractic dean for Northwestern Health Sciences University received the Academic of the Year Award
• John M. Mayer, DC, PhD, Lincoln College Endowed Chair in Biomechanical & Chiropractic Research, School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida (USF) received the George B. McClelland, DC, Researcher of the Year Award 

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