There was an article in the local paper the other day (Dominion Post 20/7/12, find it here), criticising
the Whanganui District Health Board for deciding to trial a number of “natural
therapies” at the local hospital as optional compliments to patients’ usual
health care. These therapies include prayer, meditation, massage, and Reiki,
and are being offered by local alternative health therapists to patients for free.
I personally think all of these are useful as complimentary
health therapies and applaud their introduction, so I find it surprising that
this enrichment of hospital health care would be contentious. Yet Victoria University professor Shaun Holt
is critical, particularly of Reiki and prayer, stating there is no evidence-based
research on their effectiveness. Whanganui District Health Board Member Michael
Laws goes a step further calling the decision to trial these therapies in
hospital “seriously stupid” and suggesting they are—and like Holt he singles
out Reiki in particular—akin to witchcraft.
Contrary to the views expressed by Holt and Laws, Whanganui
Hospital is simply keeping up with modern medical practice by introducing a repertoire
of complimentary therapies for their patients. According to the American
Medical Association, around 42% of U.S. hospitals offer a range of complimentary
therapies including massage, meditation, acupuncture, and Reiki, and two thirds
offer at least massage[i]. In
one Cleveland study, half of their patients (over 1700) opted to receive
counselling, spiritual care, touch therapy and/or music or art therapy during
their hospital stay, and 93% of the patients who chose to do so reported their
therapy “useful”[ii].
Regarding Reiki (what Holt and Laws imply is “akin to
witchcraft”), many prestigious institutions including the University College of
London hospitals and Southampton University hospitals in the UK; the Cleveland
Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Cancer Centre (the largest
cancer research centre in the world) and John Hopkins Hospital in the U.S.; and
the CGG Clinic in Germany offer Reiki as a complimentary therapy[iii],
especially for cancer patients. In parts of the U.S., learning Reiki is part of
standard nurse training. Some countries include Reiki treatments in health
insurance coverage. I’ve used this article as a starter for an article on Reiki
on my mindwork website, so if you are interested in finding out what Reiki is,
where it comes from, and how it is used, click here.[iv]
Prayer and attendance to patients’ spiritual needs is also
common elsewhere. In the US, about 85% of hospitals employ chaplains.[v] Their role in palliative care—and I can speak
from personal experience here—is valuable not only for patients but also for
their families, if only in offering comfort and support at a difficult time.
Studies have shown that hospital based “spiritual intervention” for the
chronically ill significantly increases patient well-being and is valuable for
patients during the recovery process[vi].
Meditation is a real wellness powerhouse which can lower
stress levels, ease pain, lower blood pressure, increase the body’s immune
response, and increase a person’s ability to focus and concentrate. Many US
hospitals and clinics now teach patients to meditate[vii].
If you want to know more about meditation, check out my mindwork website page
on it here.
Massage, the most common alternative therapy to be found in
hospitals, is useful for pain control, stress relief, reducing muscle tension,
increasing blood flow, and increasing the range of motion after injury or
during convalescence. Besides, it just feels good!
It seems to me that if these therapies are being offered for
free, and patients are free to take advantage of them or not as they wish, and
they do not impact on whatever “official” medical treatment the patient is
receiving, then Whanganui should be rejoicing at the enrichment of their
hospital treatment for patients. No one expects these treatments to replace
modern allopathic medicine, yet as Andrew Schafer, chief physician at the Cornell
Medical Centre in New York observes, “Today’s complimentary and alternative therapies could
be tomorrow’s medical breakthroughs.”[viii]
[iv]
You might also find this article on Reiki being used in hospitals interesting: http://www.reiki.org/reikinews/reiki_in_hospitals.html
[vi] Ibid.
Oct 2, headline in today's DomPost (newspaper): "Link with witchcraft closes therapy clinic." The article goes on to say they canned this trial natural therapy program after just a few weeks when it was revealed a doctor at the clinic was affiliated with the Whanganui School of Witchcraft. Bizarre. Sad. Maybe Whanganui isn't ready for the 21st century.
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