Health Care Moves Toward Sustainable Treatments

The evolution of the current health care system is being propelled by consumers who are requesting additional care beyond traditional health services. To meet the growing demand for expanded service provision, medical institutions nationwide are providing complementary and alternative therapies (CAM) for their patients. A biannual survey, conducted by the American Hospital Association, shows that nearly 1 in 4 hospitals are now offering complementary and alternative treatments.

Of the hospitals providing complementary and alternative treatments, the services most commonly offered were: massage therapy (71%); tai chi, yoga, or chi gong (47%); relaxation training (43%); acupuncture (39%); and therapeutic touch (30%). Other treatments include homeopathy, diet and lifestyle changes, and herbal medicine. These modalities represent a wide range of effective health care and wellness practices that do no harm to people and the global environment. They are examples of what Teleosis terms Ecologically Sustainable Medicine or ESM, medicines that are essentially non-polluting, renewable, and safe. These principles are the focus of the third component of the Green Health Care Program, which prepares professionals to provide more sustainable health care.

The survey findings show that the prevalence of one or more CAM services in hospitals have increased from 8% in 1998 to 27% in 2005. This significant rise in holistic care suggests the demand for a whole-person approach in medicine that addresses the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual aspects of the individual, which are all aspects of the Green Health Care Program’s approach to health care. Since many CAM treatments are non-toxic, clean, and highly effective, the integration of ESM into hospitals represents a major step towards achieving greater personal and planetary health and vitality.

At the same time, it is important to clarify that not all complementary and alternative medicines can be considered ecologically sustainable. Many CAM treatments can become unsustainable through the excessive and irresponsible provision of services, as well as the overuse of a modality. An example is the unsustainable harvest and use of goldenseal root—a well-known herb used to treat respiratory conditions. Although goldenseal has been over-harvested in the wild in the United States, it is now being cultivated, but these quantities are still too low to meet industry demand, forcing manufacturers to rely on wildcrafting in unsustainable proportions.

By educating patients about the appropriate use of complementary and alternative medicines, health practitioners may meet their client's needs while regulating medicine’s impact on the environment. The careful integration of CAM into medical institutions brings us one step closer to a health care system that is good for people and the environment. The Teleosis Green Health Care Program promotes this standard of sustainable health care and prepares professionals to understand the various ways in which medicine can be practiced to benefit both human life and the greater ecosystems of which we are a part.

Source: Ananth, S. “Health Forum 2005 Complementary and Alternative Medicine Survey of Hospitals,” July 19, 2006. News release, American Hospital Association.