Patients become patients when some ailment warrants the label. Medical professionals then interact with patients by attempting to label and treat the ailment.
Sound familiar? Western medicine is still limited by this simple version of human health, yet, every day the holistic health revolution finds new ways to challenge, broaden, and transform the way we understand our bodies, minds, and spirits.
Prevention
When a person sees a medical professional, they may or may or may not receive tips for prevention. Yet, when risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, depression, etc., pop-up, most doctors are quick to offer preventive measures that focus on healthy lifestyles.
While many doctors aren’t likely to offer drastically alternative advice, the scope of prevention has considerably broadened. Harvard Medical School even published a press release about the health benefits of eating nuts. From medical websites to books written by doctors that bridge the gap between self-help and health, new ways to understand and communicate prevention are key to the holistic health revolution.
Diagnosis
What’s so holistic about diagnosis? On the one hand, western medical practices still jump-on labels and largely ignore the cognitive and emotional causes of health problems. Neither of these elements align with a holistic vision of health care.
On the other hand, from advanced radiology equipment to computer programs, technology has completely changed the way diagnosis occurs. These advanced techniques reach into the cellular and other tiny yet vast systems of the personal human body, providing medical professionals with holistic vision.
Treatment
Prescription pills work (or don’t work) as the default for treatment, with surgery coming-in at a close second. Yet, in spite of the millions of Americans taking prescription pills and undergoing surgery, there are pockets of research and practice that continually recognize alternative ways to treat.
Alternative treatments focus on treating the person instead of the ailment. Recent studies in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies and other journals have shown the effectiveness of non-traditional healing, such as how yoga and massage therapy reduce prenatal depression and prematurity.
From growing a new limb to taking a piece of skin from one part of the body to reconstruct another part, holistic treatment also extends into the amazing world of technology.
Information
The more people who become aware of holistic health, the more health care changes. Public information sites like Natural News inform vast amounts of people new ways to prevent illness and view bodies, minds, and spirits as holistic systems.
Education has gotten on the holistic health train too. The nursing informatics degree focuses on teaching nurses how to gather and use patient data in new ways. This degree bridges the gap between patient and practitioner so that information becomes personalized and relevant on inter-professional levels.
The holistic health revolution even appears in mainstream things like apple’s new health and fitness app, which helps people track everything from calories to medications and vital stats.
As people take control of their health, they are no longer confined to the limitations of doctors and medicine: they become people instead of patients.
