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1) Food for Thought
TWO KINDS OF INTELLIGIENCE
There are two kinds of intelligence: one acquired,
as a child in school memorizes facts and concepts
from books and from what the teacher says,
collecting information from the traditional sciences
as well as from the new sciences.
With such intelligence you rise in the world.
You get ranked ahead or behind others
in regard to your competence in retaining
information. You stroll with this intelligence
in and out of fields of knowledge, getting always more
marks on your preserving tablets.
There is another kind of tablet, one
already completed and preserved inside you.
A spring overflowing its springbox. A freshness
in the center of the chest. This other intelligence
does not turn yellow or stagnate. It's fluid,
and it doesn't move from outside to inside
through conduits of plumbing-learning.
This second knowing is a fountainhead
from within you, moving out.
From the translations of Rumi by Coleman Barks
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2) Submissions for Summer Newsletter
Please Share!!!Our members have a wealth of knowledge, experiences, and expertise to share with other members..... Whether they are education events, favourite websites, quotes or poems..... perhaps opinions, challenges, stories or information related to Complementary Therapies, holistic nursing practice or integrative healthcare .... original artwork, photographs, poems...
All are welcomeHelp make the Newsletter a more exciting and informative one to read ... Submit any of the above to: Darka Neill at darka_neill@sympatico.ca by August 15.
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3) RNAO-CTNIG 2011 Annual General Meeting MinutesMinutes from the April 9. 2011 meeting will be posted on the RNAO-CTNIG website in the members area along with the the presentation on Healing Touch-Reconnecting to the Heart of Nursing Practice by Kathy Moreland Layte RN, MScN, PhD student, HTCP/I. Go to www.rnao-ctnig.org Member login User name - ctnig Password - holistic
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4) Policy and Political Action Chair Required
Are you interested in becoming a part of the RNAO-CTNIG executive team???
Perhaps interested in expanding your horizons by taking on new and interesting challenges???
Wanting to make a difference in healthcare through the integration of Complementary Therapies in nursing???
We have the job for you!!!!!
Become the Policy and Political Action Chair for the RNAO-CTNIG.
Contact Darka Neill at darka_neill@sympatico.ca or call 416 239-9083 for more information.
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5) Education Opportunities
1. Langara College and the Canadian Holistic Nurses Association
Nurses: The Leaders in Integrative Health Care
October 14 - 15, 2011
Langara College
Vancouver, British Columbia
Conference Objectives:
Increase awareness regarding energy-based healing
Provide evidence based research related to mind-body-spirit healing
Provide inspiration and confidence for nurses to embrace these healing modalities
Keynote Speakers: Janet Quinn PHD, RN and James Oschman PHD
Details may be found at http://www.langara.bc.ca/holistic-nurses/
2. The Mindfulness Institute
International Conference on Mindfulness With Youth: Helping Children (K-12) Develop Mindful Awareness Inside the Classroom and Out
July 15-17, 2011
Banff Centre,
Alberta
http://www.mindfulnessinstitute.ca
Mindfulness is a natural part of being human that involves present moment awareness and can be cultivated through formal and informal mindfulness exercises. Scientific research in this field demonstrates a multitude of positive outcomes in academic, psychological, and physical domains. Effects of mindfulness on the prefrontal cortex and interconnections involved in attention, working memory, emotional and behavioral regulation are of particular relevance to academic, psychological and social well-being and the success of youth today.
Join leaders in this emerging field in the spectacular setting of Banff National Park as we explore and discuss the practice, application, and teachings of mindfulness to youth across a variety of settings, and -- fundamental to this practice - develop and deepen our own relationship with mindful awareness and practice.
For information contact
email: at fassistant@mindfulnessinstitute.ca
phone: 1 (780) 919-0693
online: http://www.mindfulnessinstitute.ca/MindfulnessPrograms/WorkshopsSeminars/InternationalConferenceOnMindfulnessWithYouth.aspx
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6) In the News
From RNAO-Media Clips March 26-28/11
New approach needed to health care Guelph Mercury
Sat Mar 26 2011
Page: A10
Section: EDITORIAL
Byline: Peter Ellis
We read that the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph public health unit is to spend $17 million on a new office complex. Meanwhile, patients wait up to four hours to see an emergency room doctor and the annual push is on to have us all vaccinated against the flu. Along with education, so-called health care is the largest item in the provincial budget.
All this begs the question: Is there not a better way to safeguard and enhance public health? Is it not possible that our dominant approaches of vaccination, drugs and surgery as well as the pharmaceutical industry are all part of an enormous self-seeking and government supported and vested monopoly?
There are other natural approaches to maintaining health that are scorned by the medical establishment.
One thinks of naturopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture and herbalism to name a few. Some of us who seek to live by the principles of natural wellness can look back over 40 years or more of freedom from physical illness, including flu.
The public good would be best served by including proved alternate natural therapies under OHIP. At the same time a heavy tax on junk food and drink coupled with an outright ban on the sale of such products in school cafeterias (along with compulsory physical education) would ensure better health in the rising generation.
Medicine lodge meets hospital to expand health care The Peterborough Examiner
Sat Mar 26 2011
Page: C3
Section: Religion
Byline: CAROL MULLIGAN, QMI AGENCY
SUDBURY -- Native spirituality will benefit people of all cultures when a traditional aboriginal medicine lodge becomes part of Sudbury Regional Hospital, says a Sudbury family physician.
The greatest gift the medicine lodge, or Mshkikii-Gamig, offers is spirituality, says Dr. Tim Zmijowskyj, but the effect on patients and community members will extend to their physical health.
"There's a really strong (link) between health outcomes, and lack of health and the lack of spirituality," said Zmijowskyj, who works part-time at Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre, a community health centre for indigenous people.
Traditional native medicine is based on the medicine wheel that incorporates four important components -the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
"Westerners" are going to benefit greatly from the "teachings, beliefs and approaches that aboriginal people have followed and used for thousands of years," said the doctor.
Zmijowskyj recommends patients visit the medicine lodge, whether they come from a native background or not.
"It's not just for aboriginal people," said the physician. "It's a place for quiet contemplation. It allows families to come together and discuss."
Recently, the doctor met in the lodge with the family of a patient who died in hospital. "It was an opportunity for them to use that room to deal with the passing of their loved one," he said.
The medicine lodge isn't necessarily about religion, said Zmijowskyj. "It's really about spirituality," and that is something different.
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7) Research Articles
1. Factors influencing how CAM and conventional practitioners interpret findings of CAM trials.
Tilburt J, Miller FG, Kaptchuk T, Clarridge B, Bolcic-Jankovic, Emanuel E, Curlin F. (2010). Factors that influence practitioners' interpretations of evidence from alternative medicine trials - A Factorial Vignette Experiment Embedded in a National Survey. Medical Care, 48(4): 341-348
To access the full article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=factors%20that%20influence%20practitioners%27%20interpretations%20tilburt
Abstract:
Background: Clinical trial evidence in controversial areas such as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) must be approached with an open mind.
Objective: To determine what factors may influence practitioners' interpretation of evidence from CAM trials.
Method: In a mailed survey of 2400 US CAM and conventional medicine practitioners we included 2 hypothetical factorial vignettes of positive and negative research results for CAM clinical trials. Vignettes contained randomly varied journal (Annals of Internal Medicine vs. Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine) and CAM treatment type (acupuncture, massage, glucosamine, meditation, and reiki). Response items also included randomly varied patient circumstances-chronic refractory symptoms and the patient requesting CAM.
Measures: All practitioners rated the effectiveness and their willingness to recommend the therapy for a described patient. We used logistic regression to determine the independent influence of the 4 factors on respondents' effectiveness and legitimacy judgments.
Results: A total of 1561 practitioners responded (65%). Relative to Reiki, conventional medicine practitioners were most willing to recommend glucosamine (OR = 3.0; 95% CI [1.6-5.4]), than massage (1.9 [1.1-3.3]), acupuncture (1.3 [0.8-2.2]), and meditation (1.2 [0.7-2.0]). CAM practitioners rated acupuncture as effective more than other CAM therapies (OR = 5.8 [2.6-12.8] compared with Reiki), and were more willing to recommend acupuncture (OR = 12.3 [4.8-31.8]). When presented evidence of inefficacy, CAM practitioners were most willing to recommend acupuncture relative to other CAM therapies (OR = 15.5 [9.0-26.9]).
Conclusions: Practitioners' judgments about CAM trial evidence depend on the type of treatments reported. Confirmation bias may play a role in the clinical translation of new evidence from clinical trials.
2. The emergence of a new theme in the experiences of patients with cancer using CAM.
Smithson J, Paterson C, Britten N, Evans M, Lewith G. 2010. Cancer patients' experiences of using complementary therapies: polarization and integration. Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, 15 (suppl 2), 54-60.
To access the full article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20194431
Abstract:
Objective: The use of complementary therapies by people with cancer is commonplace. In a recent synthesis of 26 qualitative studies of patients' experiences of complementary therapy use after a diagnosis of cancer, the emergent theme of 'polarization' was the most notable barrier to a positive experience of complementary therapies. In this paper, we explore the two synthesis concepts of 'polarization' and 'integration, and their relationship to health service policies and guidelines on integrated services.
Methods: A systematic literature search and a meta-ethnography to synthesize key concepts.
Results: The majority of patients who used complementary therapies after a diagnosis of cancer wanted to be certain that the therapies were not interfering with their conventional cancer treatment. They valued the therapies in wider terms including: taking 'a niche of control', relieving symptoms, improving well-being, and promoting reconnection and social interaction. The emergent theme of 'polarization' suggested that conventional physicians who are perceived to be poorly informed or negative about complementary approaches induce patient anxiety, safety concerns, and difficulties in access. They may compromise their therapeutic relationship and, rarely, they may trigger patients to abandon conventional medicine altogether. In contrast, integrated advice and/or services were highly valued by patients, although some patients preferred their complementary health care to be provided in a non-medicalized environment.
Conclusions: Findings suggest that the current polarized situation is unhelpful to patients, detrimental to therapeutic relationships and may occasionally be dangerous. They indicate that complementary therapies, in a supportive role, should be integrated into mainstream cancer care.
3. T'ai Chi May Prevent Falls, Improve Mental Health in Elderly.
Lee, M.S; Ernst, E. Systematic reviews of t'ai chi: an overview. Br J Sports Med. Published online May 16, 2011.
Abstract
Several systematic reviews (SRs) have assessed the effectiveness of t'ai chi for many conditions including hypertension, osteoarthritis and fall prevention; however, their conclusions have been contradictory. The aim of this overview was to critically evaluate the SRs of t'ai chi for any improvement of medical conditions or clinical symptoms. English, Chinese and Korean electronic databases were searched for relevant articles, and data were extracted according to predefined criteria; 35 SRs met our inclusion criteria. They were related to the following conditions: cancer, older people, Parkinson's disease, musculoskeletal pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), muscle strength and flexibility, improving aerobic capacity, cardiovascular disease and risk factors, lowering resting blood pressure, osteoporosis or bone mineral density, type 2 diabetes, psychological health, fall prevention and improving balance, and any chronic conditions. In several instances, the conclusions of these articles were contradictory. Relatively clear evidence emerged to suggest that t'ai chi is effective for fall prevention and improving psychological health and was associated with general health benefits for older people. However, t'ai chi seems to be ineffective for the symptomatic treatment of cancer and RA. In conclusion, many SRs of t'ai chi have recently been published; however, the evidence is convincingly positive only for fall prevention and for improvement of psychological health.
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8) Website
Mindfulness Research Guide is a comprehensive electronic resource and publication database that provides information to researchers, practitioners, and the general public on:
1. the scientific study of mindfulness, including: - a database of research publications in the area of mindfulness
- measurement tools to operationalize mindfulness
- interventions incorporating mindfulness techniques
- universities and centers conducting mindfulness research
2. and hosts the Mindfulness Research Monthly bulletin for the purpose of keeping researchers and practitioners informed of current advances in mindfulness research.
http://www.mindfulexperience.org
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Take care,
Darka Neill RN, BScN, RTTP, Reiki II
RNAO-CTNIG Executive Editor
darka_neill@sympatico.ca
Publication of views, opinions, or advertising does not necessarily reflect the views of or constitute endorsement by the RNAO-CTNIG or RNAO nor can the RNAO-CTNIG or RNAO be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in this digest.
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