Challenges and Opportunities Faced by Biofield Practitioners in Global Health and Medicine: A White Paper.

Glob Adv Health Med

Guarneri Integrative Health Inc at Pacific Pearl La Jolla, Miraglo Foundation (Ms King).

Published: November 2015

Biofield therapies (BTs) are increasingly employed in contemporary healthcare. In this white paper, we review specific challenges faced by biofield practitioners resulting from a lack of (1) a common scientific definition of BT; (2) common educational standards for BT training (including core competencies for clinical care); (3) collaborative team care education in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and in integrative health and medicine (IHM); (4) a focused agenda in BT research; and (5) standardized devices and scientifically validated mechanisms in biofield research. We present a description of BT and discuss its current status and challenges as an integrative healthcare discipline. To address the challenges cited and to enhance collaboration across disciplines, we propose (1) standardized biofield education that leads to professional licensure and (2) interprofessional education (IPE) competencies in BT training required for licensed healthcare practitioners and encouraged for other practitioners using these therapies. Lastly, we discuss opportunities for growth and a potential strategic agenda to achieve these goals. The Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM) provides a unique forum to facilitate development of this emerging discipline, to facilitate IPE, and to further increase the availability of BT to patients.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4654785PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.7453/gahmj.2015.024.supplDOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

health medicine
12
faced biofield
8
biofield practitioners
8
white paper
8
integrative health
8
biofield
5
challenges
4
challenges opportunities
4
opportunities faced
4
practitioners
4

Similar Publications

Loneliness is associated with different structural brain changes in schizophrenia spectrum disorders and major depression.

Schizophr Res

January 2025

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), partner site Mannheim-Heidelberg-Ulm, Germany. Electronic address:

Background: Loneliness, distress from having fewer social contacts than desired, has been recognized as a significant public health crisis. Although a substantial body of research has established connections between loneliness and various forms of psychopathology, our understanding of the neural underpinnings of loneliness in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) remains limited.

Methods: In this study, structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data were collected from 57 SSD and 45 MDD patients as well as 41 healthy controls (HC).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Is Intracranial Pressure Monitoring After Open Cranial Procedures Associated With Outcome?

J Surg Res

January 2025

Division of Trauma and Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Reading Hospital, West Reading, Pennsylvania. Electronic address:

Introduction: It is unclear if intracranial pressure monitoring (ICPM) after open cranial procedures (craniotomy or craniectomy) (OC) for traumatic brain injury is associated with mortality. We hypothesized that ICPM placed early after OC was associated with lower mortality compared to no ICPM or delayed ICPM placement.

Methods: Using 2020-2021 data from the American College of Surgeons Trauma Quality Improvement Program, patients ≥16 y from level 1 and 2 trauma centers who underwent OC were divided into two groups: ICPM placed within 72 h of OC (early) and no ICPM or ICPM placed after 72 h (none/delayed).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Access to rehabilitation services after a traumatic injury improves functional outcomes. No study has examined the association between injury intent, violent versus nonviolent, and receipt of rehabilitation services after injury.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of injured adult patients admitted to our level I trauma center from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Epidemiology, ventilator management, and outcomes in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) because of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been described extensively but have never been compared between countries. We performed an individual patient data analysis of four observational studies to compare epidemiology, ventilator management, and outcomes. We used propensity score weighting to control for confounding factors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This research letter discusses the impact of different file formats on ChatGPT-4's performance on the Japanese National Nursing Examination, highlighting the need for standardized reporting protocols to enhance the integration of artificial intelligence in nursing education and practice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!