Overcoming the Early Challenges
Spa + Integrative
Medicine = Health and
Business Opportunities
BY MAE MAÑACAP-JOHNSON
The concept of Integrative Medicine is technically not new.
Although it was over a decade ago when its popularity rose
in the U.S., the integration of traditional and alternative
healing practices has long been embraced in other cultures,
particularly in Asia.
“In the U.S., from a conventional medicine perspective,
most of the focus for the past 20 years has been on
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM),” says Dr.
Brent Bauer, director of the Department of Internal
Medicine’s Complementary and Integrative Medicine
Program at Mayo Clinic and ISPA’s Medical Advisor.
Dr. Bauer recalls that early on, the rising popularity of
approaches such as acupuncture, herbs and meditation
were viewed with skepticism—or even outright
hostility.
“At this point, conventional medical providers
are still getting their hands around many of the
basic concepts of wellness promotion, as they are
evolving slowly from a system that has always
excelled at fixing things when they were broken,”
Dr, Bauer says. He predicts a culture of openmindedness among medical professionals in the
future, adding that, as the importance of wellness
promotion grows, more physicians will be ready to
hear the story of spa and what it can bring collaboratively to the care of patients.
“Spas can foster this by being familiar with the research
that supports services like massage or meditation and
sharing that information when needed,” Dr. Bauer says.
Spectrum of Belief
A
ccording to Dr. Bauer, there is a spectrum of knowledge/beliefs among medical doctors who have different perspectives and levels of openness to alternative treatments.
Old Guard: Often takes a skeptical or even hostile view to these changes.
Middle Guard: Physicians like Dr. Bauer who have been in practice for 10 to 20 years and have grown up around this
movement. These doctors tend to be more open and curious. Even though they may not fully understand it, they tend to
be more willing to discuss issues with patients and try novel approaches.
New Guard: These are the “kids” who are currently in medical school and in residency. In the next few years, they will be
the leaders of medicine and they come with a much different perspective. Most of them have grown up with someone in
the family using acupuncture or practicing meditation. Yoga is a common practice for many of them, so as they encounter
patients using these CAM therapies, they have a much more open (and knowledgeable) approach.
According to Dr. Bauer, this stresses a point that “resistance is futile.” “The natural order of change means that we will
see an increased blurring of the distinctions between medicine and wellness and a greater understanding of the roles different providers can play in that realm,” he says.
November 2011
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