Today January 23, 2013 is International Integrative Medicine Day to increase awareness and actions for medicine that is holistic, patient-centered, economically and environmentally sustainable, and with consciousness to integrate various global medical systems.
What does that mean for cancer patients? To help cancer patients improve quality of life and cancer survival, integrative cancer care is the answer. In that process, cancer patients receive cancer care to the whole person everyday to body, mind, and spirit, including social and environmental health.
Integrative medicine for cancer patients must be comprehensive. Cancer patients need providers who treat the cancer diagnosis, other components of the entire physical body, and whole person. Everything is connected. Cancer care must also be customized and treating each person as an individual.
Where can cancer patients learn about integrative medicine? Here are some of the best resources about integrative medicine and integrative cancer care for cancer patients.
- Jeannine Walston Healing Cancer provides hundreds of articles about whole person integrative cancer care. The cancer information informs and inspires cancer patients to feel better and live longer. Articles include research study results and evidence-based medicine findings in clear explanations also with compassionate kindness.
- Annie Appleseed Project offers information, education, advocacy, and awareness for cancer patients about natural therapies, lifestyle components, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and other issues from the patient perspective. Along with a website sharing a lot of information, they host a conference this Feb 28-March 2 in Florida (also available online) called Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Cancer Therapies.
- Healthy Medicine Academy hosts a conference this April 26-29 in Arizona called Integrative Cancer Medicine: Clinical Applications of Cancer Strategies. This year, they also launched Cancer Strategies Journal. They wrote, “There is no question that the transformation of medicine is already underway and it is being spearheaded by the transformation that is happening in integrative cancer medicine.”
- Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) works to advance evidence-based, comprehensive, integrative healthcare to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. Like Annie Appleseed Project and Healthy Medicine Academy, they also host a conference each year more focused on providers.
- National Institutes of Health National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is the Federal Government’s lead agency for scientific research on the diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine. NCCAM offers some articles and funds CAM clinical trials too for cancer patients and other conditions.
- Several medical institutions with some scientific information about integrative cancer treatments include MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
- Conventional cancer care must be included in integrative cancer care. Quality resources for conventional cancer research include the National Cancer Institute, American Society of Clinical Oncology, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and Medline’s PubMed.
Remember that integrative cancer care encompasses mind-body wellness, spiritual vitality, social connections, and a clean environment. The whole person defines health.
How will you or someone you love create an integrative cancer care plan with integrative medicine?
