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Welcome to the first in a year-long series of monthly columns on pediatric and adolescent integrative medicine. Over the coming year, this column will present an integrative medicine view on a range of topics relevant to children, teens and early adolescents including: nutrition, herbs & supplements, mind-body and self-regulation skills, and general health and wellness.
If you’re new to the concept of integrative medicine, take a few minutes to browse the UCSF Osher Center web site, particularly the page What is integrative medicine?
Broadly speaking, integrative medicine is practicing good medicine. It is an approach to a child’s health that:
- places illness in the context of the child, rather than the child in the context of illness;
- takes into account family and environmental factors;
- neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) uncritically.
Other articles in this series:
Integrative Pediatric and Adolescent Health
Communicating With Your Provider
by David Becker, MD, MPH
It’s not always easy to talk with your provider
It is not surprising that people are hesitant to communicate their interest in integrative medicine with their providers; surveys of people who have sought out complementary therapies have demonstrated a reluctance to share this information with ‘mainstream’ physicians. Commonly, people are afraid of being dismissed or rebuked, assume the physician will either not be interested or not know how to help, or even feel that it is none of the physician’s business. Since integrative and complementary concepts of care are only just now making it into medical school curricula, physicians often have very little exposure to complementary or alternative therapies and their lack of understanding may lead to negative assumptions about efficacy and safety that may not be accurate.
Things are changing
However, more and more physicians are developing an interest in integrative concepts and learning about complementary medicine. It is gradually becoming easier, I think, for patients to be more proactive with their physicians; and physicians are becoming more open to discussing integrative approaches. However, engaging your doctor in a collaborative way may take perseverance, patience and tact.
Be an advocate for your child
It’s important to be an advocate for your child in many circumstances, and medical care is no exception. Whether you’re talking with your child’s physician or an alternative provider, respectfully asking them to address your concerns and interests is not only reasonable, it’s being a responsible patient or parent. With that in mind, here are some starter questions to ask of conventional physicians and complementary or alternative providers you may seek out:
Questions to ask your physician:
- I am interested in exploring integrative or complementary approaches to care; is that something you are willing to talk with me about?
- Do you have any training in complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) or integrative medicine?
- Are there CAM providers in the community to whom you refer patients?
- Are you willing to talk with a CAM provider if I find one on my own?
Questions to ask your complementary or alternative health care provider:
- What is your training and background? Is there a national or state licensure or certification process for your field?
- What experience do you have working with children?
- Do you share information and treatment plans with conventional physicians?
- Are you willing to talk with my physician?
- How long, or how many visits before I should expect to see any benefits?
- What risks or side effects should I be aware of?
Printer-friendly version of questions: Questions to ask your provider
Your life, your health, your choice
Asking many of these questions will help you think about which providers you might want to consult. I want to empower you not only to be an advocate for your child and family, but to be an advocate for improving health care overall. Your voice is an impetus of change for health care providers.
We health care practitioners might not always agree with each other, we may even give you conflicting recommendations; but we can’t help resolve inconsistencies unless we are pushed to find more answers and communicate among ourselves and with you.
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About the Column
Integrative pediatric consultations are available at the Osher Center with Kevin Barrows, MD, Rick McKinney, MD, and Priscilla Abercrombie, RN, NP, PhD, AHN-BC. To make an appointment, please call the main clinic line at 415.353.7720.
David Becker, MD, MPH is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and Affiliate Faculty at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF. He is starting the Pediatric Integrative Pain Clinic in July 2008. This is a referral-based service for children and adolescents with chronic pain. For questions about referrals, please contact the main Mt. Zion Pediatric number: 415.885.7478.
In addition, we offer two healthy parenting stress reduction classes: Mind in Labor and Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting. |
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