Non-Traditional Healthcare - Essay Example

NON-TRADITIONAL HEALTHCARE There are a variety of non-traditional healthcare forms that are used to complement or supplement both traditional and ordinary healthcare systems. As a result, a number of care systems have been discovered in various regions across the world, and their ability to offer relief and cure to patients has been confirmed. One particular feature of non-traditional healthcare systems is that they vary from place to place implying the cultural perspective of these forms of treatment. Moreover, non-traditional healthcare uses different applications and methods in offering cure or relief to the patients. Therefore, there is no uniform approach towards non-traditional healthcare as each form envisages a different set of applications in the course of treatment. This explains why some forms of non-traditional healthcare are acceptable in some places and not others. Non-traditional methods are also based on different knowledge and belief systems that guide the processes of treatment. These belief and knowledge systems may connote the causes of disease and how to tackle treatment. Essentially, several non-traditional healthcare processes are used in different parts of the world; examples of these forms are acupuncture, folk remedies, and naturopathic medicine among others. I live in a community of Native Americans, Asian and Dutch; there are a few acupuncture and naturopathic clinics in my area. The document provides the findings of a research on the availability of non-traditional healthcare in my area of residence. The findings will be centered on the prevalence of non-traditional healthcare forms namely, acupuncture and naturopathic clinics in my community. Naturopathic Health Clinics and Acupuncture Naturopathic clinics in my area use natural interventions to restore health. Naturopathic medicine involves the applications based on nature to replenish the health of people. As a result, majority of the naturopathic clinics in this area are based on the natural operations that are applied in a diversity of ways to restore health. On a broad plane, naturopathic medicine and care as offered in these clinics involve treatment, prevention along with optimal health. Naturopathic medicine, therefore, offers a wide array of health services that are all centered on guaranteeing the health of individuals. Naturopathic treatment is a distinct health care practice that focuses on treatment, optimal wellness and prevention, treatment via the application of therapeutic methods and substances which encourage individual healing processes (Hechtman, 2012). Broadly though, naturopathic treatment denotes the practice, science, art and concept of diagnosis, prevention and treatment of health conditions. Practitioners in naturopathic treatment endeavor to replenish and sustain health among patients through the use of individual healing mechanisms. Part of naturopathic interventions is the spread of awareness regarding the reasonable application of natural therapeutics. The applications of naturopathy go beyond matters of physical health to guarantee mental and psychological wellness. Naturopathic clinics endeavor to cure chronic and severe health conditions and patients and reinstate health; they also function to re-establish physical health through aiding an individual’s innate processes of healing. Naturopathic interventions are accomplished through treatment, diagnosis and prevention. Prevention involves the application of public health undertakings as well as hygiene that spreads awareness regarding the significance of disease prevention. To achieve these objectives, practitioners persuade people to embrace ways of life that promote optimal health. Naturopathic clinics spend a lot of time and effort teaching good lifestyle and health practices that will help in keeping diseases at bay. Prevention is considered important because it lessens the prevalence of disease and provides information that guarantee good health for people. Diagnosis is an imperative naturopathic health intervention process through which individuals are examined for any medical conditions. The use of laboratory, traditional, modern, as well as clinical methods of diagnosis is sought in determining the health condition of the individual. Diagnosis is significant in the sense that it sets the ground for the next processes after the health situation of the individual is understood. Care and treatment are central pillars of naturopathic practices through which the health condition of a patient is restored through a number of established applications. Basically, therapeutic mechanisms along with materials are applied mutually with the internal cure processes of an individual. Among the self-healing mechanisms applied by naturopathy clinics include nutritional and dietetic materials, psychotherapy, botanical remedy, homeopathy, and psychotherapy. Others include physical remedies like naturopathic obstetrics, manipulative therapy, and minor surgery along with prescription remedies. Naturopathic remedy is differentiated by the principles where its applications are based. These basics are repeatedly re-evaluated in accordance to scientific advances. The mechanisms of naturopathic therapeutic include contemporary and conventional, scientific as well as empirical interventions (Chisolm, 2008). Naturopathic clinics apply numerous interventions in providing treatment and care to patients in the locality. In order to be efficient in their profession majority of these interventions have been fused together whereby they are applied in harmony to ensure that the patients obtain the treatment. Treatment comes after diagnosis because the physician efforts aim to determine the condition and its causes. The practice involves a number of principles that guide the processes of these naturopathic interventions. Acupuncture is widely practiced in my locality for the treatment and care of a number of ailments. The practice involves inserting skinny needles inside particular sections of the body to improve wellness and health of a patient. The practice is said to have originated from China and has prevailed for the last 2000 years. In America, acupuncture is extensively practiced and the intervention often incorporates medical customs from Korea, China and Japan. The popular practice in the area involves putting needles in a patents skin. This is thought to provide healing and medicinal effects (Norris, 2001). It has been medically proven that acupuncture diminishes vomiting and nausea following chemotherapy as well as surgery. Additionally, the practice has the ability to relieve pain. Nonetheless, experts in medicine and research are yet to fully comprehend how acupuncture actually functions to provide all this relief. Part of the reasons tendered for the functionality of acupuncture includes assertions that the practice stimulates the pain killing components of the body. Moreover, acupuncture could have an effect on how humans discharge chemicals that control the flow of blood and pressure (Chisolm, 2008). Acupuncture practices in the locality both imitate ancient Chinese practices as well as contemporary practices that have evolved over time. Patients have to contend with needle manipulation in the skin to achieve their much required relief. Though not scientifically proven, acupuncture is a reliable non-traditional health intervention in the sense that it covers several health conditions. However, research indicates that the ancient practices of acupuncture are more reliable than other contemporary additions. The strategic needle insertions play an important role in healing the patients’ conditions. I interviewed a number of non-traditional healthcare forms; acupuncture alongside with naturopathic interventions. Several accounts indicated the success of the interventions as well as how the patients perceive them. Patients who have undergone naturopathic interventions described it as a wide range of natural interventions that not only diagnose health conditions but also administer treatment and prevent the spread and contraction of diseases. Majority of my respondents had actually benefited from one of the many interventions under the vast naturopathic process. A number of the interviewees claimed to have used acupuncture form of treatment. Acupuncture was described by many as a therapeutic method with great medicinal effect on the body (Chisolm, 2008). In conclusion, several non-traditional healthcare forms are used in various parts of the globe to provide the much needed relief from sickness and pain. It is a proven fact that these forms are different in diverse places and they are equally based on diverse knowledge and belief systems. This actuality accounts for the acceptance of certain methods in some places than others. This paper reported on a research done regarding the application of nontraditional healthcare forms and how they are used. The particular concern was the use of acupuncture and naturopathic interventions in the researcher’s community. The researcher found that both the interventions are widely used in his locality, and their effectiveness rate is virtually equal. To elucidate on how these interventions are used, the researcher directly interviewed beneficiaries of these medicinal approaches who relayed their experiences. The paper thus opines that both acupuncture and naturopathic interventions are successfully applied in the researchers’ community. However, both of them have distinct approaches used in approaching diseases and health conditions. A clear understanding of each medicinal approach has been given in the document that elucidate on their relevant processes. References Chisolm, S. (2008). The Health Professions: Trends and Opportunities in U. S Health Care. Washington: Jones & Bartlett Publisher. Hechtman, L. (2012). Clinical Naturopathic Medicine. Melbourne: Elsevier Australia. Norris, C. (2001). Acupuncture: Treatment of Musculoskeletal Conditions. Washington: Elsevier Health Sciences. Read More