Karlo Berger, ABT, LMT
Whole Health Solutions, LLC
236 Fourth Street, Providence, RI 02906 USA
Phone 401 383 0661 • Fax 413 431 9087
Email Karlo@KarloBerger.com
Partners Wanted for Whole Health Solutions.
America needs whole health solutions like never before. Please email me if you are interested is collaborating in the following areas:
Collective Healing Through Group-Based Integrative Care
Helping Returning Gulf War Veterans
Revitalizing Low-Income Communities
New Career Paths for Americans with Disabilities
Cultivating the Art of "Holistic Activism"
Collective Healing Through Group-Based Integrative CareCan group-oriented integrative healthcare finally make integrative medicine affordable to large numbers of Americans?
One of the most promising but largely unnoticed approaches to healthcare today is group-oriented healthcare, in which patients meet collectively with a physician instead of one-on-one. The time has come for interested parties to come together, examine best practices, and develop a replicable, group-oriented, physician-facilitated, integrative care model that brings together patients with similar chronic health issues (e.g. diabetes, low back pain, obesity, high blood pressure) for a series of sessions that empowers them to develop supportive networks, share success stories, consider both conventional and holistic options, and figure out what works for them.
Such a model that gives groups of patients license and latitude to collectively consider and evaluate their community's conventional and holistic healthcare resources, under the guidance of a physician, will inevitably draw in local holistic providers into their healing process in collaborative ways.
A key advantage of group-oriented care is that it could work as a stand-alone, for-profit business model that does not require insurance reimbursement (or long-term buy-in from employers, hospitals, foundations, etc.) to sustain itself. Since, according to the 2006 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Healthplans, the average co-pay for a physician visit is now $16-18, asking participants to contribute their regular co-pay amount directly to the physician's office could both be financially manageable to most people and could cover the physician's time, a visiting CAM provider's time, operational costs, and leave room for profit.
I encourage those interested in developing a for-profit, group-oriented, low-cost, replicable, community-based integrative healthcare model to contact Whole Health Solutions for networking and collaboration.Promoting Integrative Medical Approaches to
Treating PTSD in Returning Gulf War VeteransHow can the holistic health sector work with mainstream medicine to address the looming public health crisis of our returning Gulf War Vets?
As many as one in six soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): nightmares, flashbacks and severe anxiety, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. The VA system is overwhelmed with so many traumatized veterans, some of whom may require years of follow-up care. Former US Senator Max Cleland has predicted that in the next few years, this may be the biggest public health problem our country could face.
The holistic health sector can, and should, play a crucial role in helping our returning vets heal themselves in body, mind and spirit. Therapies such as acupuncture, hypnotherapy, meditation, herbal medicine, and bodywork have a track record of providing care to people who have experienced severe psychological trauma. A notable survey has shown that the soldiers of today enjoy complementary/alternative medicine therapies and would like to have them on offer in treatment facilities. And in fact, the army has already established its first integrative medicine center. Holistic healthcare professionals are ready and willing to help, but have not been asked.
I call upon the holistic health sector to do its patriotic duty and tend to the healing of our returning veterans, in partnership with the VA system, veterans organizations, and mental health professionals. And it is the obligation of these other parties to welcome holistic practitioners into the mix in an atmosphere of collaboration and mutual learning. I invite interested parties to contact Whole Health Solutions for networking and collaboration. Top of page
Holistic Medicine as a Force for Economic Regeneration
in Low-Income CommunitiesHow can the holistic health sector generate employment while addressing community health needs in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods?
It is an elitist myth that only middle-class communities support complementary/alternative therapies such as acupuncture, reiki, and naturopathy. In fact, demand for receiving these therapies is substantial in low-income neighborhoods where they have been introduced:
This untapped market presents opportunities for local entrepreneurs who wish to start holistic micro-enterprises in these communities. Training for certification in modalities such as reiki, reflexology, and massage is much less expensive and time-consuming than conventional medical training, and can quickly pay for itself. Requiring little space and overhead, holistic practitioners not only can improve their community’s health, but also can contribute to their neighborhood’s economic revitalization.
I call for partnerships between the holistic health sector and relevant institutions in low-income communities (Community Development Corporations, nonprofit organizations, religious institutions, banks, government agencies, foundations, and businesses) to explore how minimal training and seed capital for holistic entrepreneurs can generate local employment and economic growth. I invite interested parties to contact Whole Health Solutions for networking and collaboration. Top of page
Holistic Medicine as a Career Path for People with Disabilities
How can the holistic health sector offer better livelihoods for unemployed and underemployed people who are living with disabilities?
Unemployment and underemployment are endemic among disabled people in the United States. It is a national tragedy that these individuals’ ample talents are not fully tapped by society. Many holistic therapies can provide alternative pathways to self-sufficiency and meaningful work.
How so? A great acupuncturist or massage therapist does not need to know how to see (in Japan, these careers have been traditionally held by visually disabled people for centuries). A talented energy healer needs a powerful heart much more than a high school diploma. A brilliant practitioner of intuitive healing needs to have strong intuitive capacity, not the ability to speak, walk, talk, hear, or see.
I call on the holistic health sector to enter into dialogue with the disability rights movement to identify and enhance opportunities for disabled people to train in whole health careers of their choosing. Experience has shown that required adjustments in professional training curricula to accommodate the disabled are not significant obstacles for educational providers or non-disabled fellow students. I invite interested parties to contact Whole Health Solutions for networking and collaboration. Top of page
Cultivating the Art of “Holistic Activism”
What can the holistic health sector and health reformers learn from each other to make our society whole?
"At the heart of movement building is the concept of two-sided transformation, both of ourselves and our institutions." -- John Maguire, veteran civil rights activist.
Even though many holistic health practitioners and progressive health reform activists share some similar values, the two communities tend to operate in isolation from each other. When holistic healthcare practitioners focus on personal transformation at the expense of social transformation, they may help their individual clients heal in the short-term but, by remaining apathetic towards a healthcare system in crisis, these healers may not be supporting the long-term health of their clients and others. When healthcare activists focus on social transformation at the expense of their personal transformation, they are in danger of falling into an unbalanced lifestyle of overwork, frustration, and loss of perspective that can lead to burnout and ineffective action.I call upon progressives in the holistic health sector to explore with healthcare reformers new forms of healthcare practice and social activism that see personal transformation and social transformation as two sides of the same coin. What can activists learn from the holistic health sector in terms of self-care practices that complement the demands of effective activism? What can the holistic health sector learn from healthcare activists in terms of simple ways they can make their work more socially relevant?
These two groups need to combine their strengths and develop “holistic activism”—practices that equally advance both personal and social transformation, and that work to heal the self and others while at the same time acting to transform society at large. The time is now. I invite interested parties to contact Whole Health Solutions for networking and collaboration. Top of page