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Comparison and contrast of alternative medicine
Alternative medicine vs conventional medicine
The difference between conventional and alternative medicine
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Health is considered a complete wellness of a body including physical, mental and social well-being and Holistic Health is considered a wellness of a whole body including mind, body and spirit. According to American Holistic Medicine Association “Holistic medicine is the art and science of healing that addresses the whole person – body, mind and spirit” (Wollumbin, page 3). Holistic Health is an alternate way to treat, prevent, and wellness of an illness and achieves the best possible level of health. It focuses on the whole body rather than just symptoms or diseases. It is an approach to heal the physical, psychological, environmental, spiritual, nutritional health of one’s being. For each individual, the definition of holistic health is different and in simple words it is an alternate way of treatment where physical, mental, emotional and spiritual works equally together to attain a health. In western medicine, standard treatment is given with drugs or surgery according to symptoms or diseases or injuries where a doctor or a physician determines the ways of treatment and the patient has to follow the recommendations. Whereas, holistic health is a complete opposite way to treat the illness where patients cooperate in their illnesses, take the responsibility of their treatments, make their own decision for own level of well-being and thoroughly participate in their health care plan.
I define holistic health in this way because holistic health has numerous ways to attain a health and to approach the analysis of an illness. The modalities I learn in my holistic health class have made me to realize that there is more than one way to achieve the health and western medicine is not the only hope to reduce or cure the symptoms of any di...
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...98,000 Americans die from these each year (Braunstein, 2012). With the treatment of holistic health care, the incidence rate of HAIs in hospitals can be decreased as well.
People admire good health and want to stay healthy throughout their lives. Every individual of every race and culture look for the easiest methods to be healthy and if they get sick, they start looking for the alternate ways to regain their health. Holistic health is an alternate approach to acknowledge that health depends on the wellness of the whole body, mind and spirit. In holistic health, a person is the responsible for her own treatment depending on his or her choice and belief. Holistic health would increase the further steps to approach the prevention and healing process of the illness in current health care system and will be effective to provide the better treatment for the patients.
Thornton, L. (2014, January 1). Welcome to AHNA: What is Holistic Nursing? Retrieved November 12, 2014, from
Dossey, B. M. (2010). Holistic nursing: From Florence Nightingale's historical legacy to 21st century global nursing. Alternative therapies, 16(5), 14-16.
Fain, N. C. & Lewis. N. M. (2002). Wellness: The Holistic Approach to Health. Journal of
When someone hears holistic nursing their mind may immediately jump to a form of hippie nursing with little to none scientific background or accuracy in the quality of care. This belief however is extremely inaccurate as to what holistic nursing really is. Holistic care can be defined as to when the nurse honors the patient’s wishes and takes into consideration the social, physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the patient’s life (American Holistic Nurses Association, n.d.). Holistic nursing is growing in popularity amongst patients because of its open communication between nurse and patient, its unique approach to health and healing, as well as the comprehensive care it can provide.
There are varying descriptions from Holistic Medicine, Alternative Medicine, Natural Medicine to Complementary Medicine. They all embrace the concept of interconnectedness and that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. All aspects from the animal to human bond, environment, and lifestyle are considered when treating the
Holistic definition of health: holistic health refers to the person as a whole instead of looking at their separate illnesses and problems. Holistic health connects all aspects of our existence. These include our body, emotions, mind and spirit and it enthuses for them to all be balanced and neve...
In society today, there is an extensive range of definitions of health and wellbeing which can be seen as both positive and negative. A Holistic view can also be identified and defined. These definitions of health have changed over time and will carry on changing within the future. According to where a family lives or their social class everyone will have different meanings and views of health and wellbeing. This may be due to what one person perceives as being healthy as another person may not. Channel 4 learning (no date) describes that a positive view of health can be seen as when a person is more likely to achieve and sustain physical fitness from exercising and are mentally stable. Therefor a negative view can be described when a person is free from illness, disease, mental distress or anything which may be a symptom of not having good health. The holistic view of health sees the person as a whole instead of just directing at one area and therefore combines physical, social, intellectual and emotional factors together. Consequently, if a person has emotional difficulties such as how they interact with other people or how they may feel but are physically fit and free from illness does not mean that they are healthy overall as one factor has difficulties. It is also vital to consider the two main theoretical concepts known as the medical and social model of health. Polity books (no date) describes that the medical model views health in terms of disease, diagnosis and then treatment and very much views a body to be separate from psychological processes. Causes of ill-health within the body are seen to require expert interference from a doctor to provide treatment to prevent or kill of an illness within the body. The Social model...
This is more holistic approach in the sense that it ‘involves the promotion of health, preventing of disease, the treatment of illness, the care for those who are disabled and continuous developm...
Health psychology is a relatively new concept rapidly growing and could be defined as the biological and psychological influences affect ones behaviour also bringing in social influences of health and illness (MacDonald, 2013). Biological determinants consider genetic and biological factors of an illness whereas psychological determinants focus on the psychological factors such as why people behave the way they do when dealing with issues such as anxiety and stress. Models such as the Health Belief Model and Locus of Control were developed in attempt to try and explain psychological issues around a chronic illness such as breast cancer (Ogden, 2012). Sociological factors can cause an enormous amount of pressure for one to behave in a certain way for example gender roles in society and religious considerations when dealing with health beliefs. Health Beliefs can be defined as one’s own perception to their own personal health and illness and health behaviours (Ogden, 2012). There are also theories and models used to explain pain and coping with diagnosis such as Moos and Schaefer (1984) Crisis theory and Shontz (1975) cycle of grief people go through when being diagnosed with a serious illness.
If one wants to live an enjoyable, fulfilling life they must know what it truly means to be well. Living a wellness lifestyle means incorporating all aspects of what it takes to flourish as a human being. It goes beyond the health of the physical body and incorporates the important social, emotional, and spiritual factors that play a part in every person’s life in one way or another. Knowing how to act correctly, control our feelings, channel our frustrations, and improve in each dimension of wellness will lead to a satisfactory life. Spiritual, physical, emotional, nutritional, and social wellness define the biggest components of life and thriving in them is vital.
One of the many goals I aspire to reach as a future healthcare provider is to treat patients holistically. I strive to not only treat the cases presented, but to help identify the root cause of their ailments to prevent subsequent symptoms and disease. I also see myself educating patients about living a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise, a well balanced diet, as well as avoiding habits such as smoking or excessive alcohol consumption. Each patient is unique from one another so it is important to treat them as such. By offering healthcare that is holistic and specific to each individual, not only are we increasing the likelihood of the treatment plan to work efficiently, but we are also building a rapport with the patient by understanding
Health is described as physical and mental well-being and freedom from disease, pain or defect. However, such descriptions only superficially define the actual meaning of health. There may be many occasions when individuals are not necessarily ill or in pain but may be overweight, stressed or emotionally unstable. Health is a quality of life involving dynamic interaction and interdependence among the individual’s physical state, their mental and emotional reactions, and the social context in which the individual exists. There are many factors that influence your health, but three major components contribute to general well-being: Self-awareness, a balanced diet and, regular physical activity.
Personal health is extremely important to everyone around the world. But it is especially important to citizens of the United States of America. Being one of the leading countries in Health technology and also in food and beverage leaves most people choosing between living a healthy lifestyle and indulging in the varieties of food we offer. Across the country, many people are living with pre-existing conditions, living in food deserts, living below the poverty line and a long list of other factors that either hinders them from eating healthy or force them to eat healthily. When trying to live a healthy lifestyle in this country not only does the promotion of prevention matter, but also the promotion of Career and job opportunities matter just as much. In the United States, Money equals Power and money also equal the opportunity to create and live a healthier lifestyle.
Emotional health includes a person who has full control of his emotions of himself as well as for those people around him and has developed self-confidence, trust within his peers and love that is unwavering in the midst of hardships. Intellectual health describes a person ability to reinforce his experiences through learnings. A socially healthy person is one who can forge strong bonds within his acquaintances and to be able to cope up the usual day-to-day drama. Spiritual wellness involves the strengthening of ones’ belief and at the same time being open to new beliefs. And a physically healthy person takes care of his body and practices healthy habits. Health educators install these five dimensions to their clients by identifying the needs through Maslows’ Hierarchy of needs (Bastable,
My personal health has been something I constantly think about. Whether it’s myself, my parents, my doctor, or others that bring it up, I’m reminded that I need to eat healthier or exercise more, etc. I know that I need to get better about what I eat and try to work more exercise into my daily routine, I just find it hard to find the motivation to go and actually accomplish what I know that I need to do. Especially in today’s society where we’re surrounded by a lot of non-healthy food, and getting access to healthy food is more expensive than the latter, it’s hard to make the better choice and choose the healthy option. I’m hoping now that I’m in college that I’m able to get better at taking care of myself than I have in the past.