Activity Description
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and The Bravewell Collaborative partnered to convene a summit that explored the science and practice of integrative medicine—health care that addresses together the mental, emotional, and physical aspects of the healing process for improving the breadth and depth of patient-centered care and promoting the nation's health. The meeting reviewed the state of the science, assessed the potential and the priorities, and began to identify elements of an agenda to improve understanding, training, practice, and other actions that might help improve the prospects for integrative medicine's contributions to better health and health care. Prevention, research, education, and clinical care were also addressed. Experts were invited to discuss integrative medicine, but not specific, alternative modalities of care to facilitate behavioral change to maintain wellness and avoid illness and disease. Patient perspectives were also included. The meeting examined the ways integrative medicine seeks to address the personal and community environments that shape and empower patients' knowledge, skills, and support to be active participants in their own care.
The content informed the participants and identified priorities for moving forward, including exploration of both barriers and models of care and clinical programs that work. The summit covered integrative medicine research methodology and ways to measure the interaction of multiple therapies.