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Whole Person Care and Complementary and Alternative Therapies

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Whole Person Care

Abstract

Patients have been the huge beneficiaries of medicine’s singular focus on curing disease. Assisted by the combined forces of the scientific method and health-related technologies, medical science has effectively advanced the diagnostic and ­treatment capabilities of the medical profession [1]. In the past century, more ­diseases have been cured or effectively managed than in the previous 2,000 years combined [1]. Yet, the past decade has witnessed a groundswell of patients across North America who are calling upon health care practitioners to care/treat the whole ­person, and not just their illness. This demand for a more comprehensive approach that would respond to the individual needs of the whole person may explain why so many people are turning to complementary therapies (CT) before, during, and after their medical treatment, the majority having neither informed nor consulted with their treating oncologist [2–4]. This growing trend has begun to challenge underlying assumptions about health and illness traditionally held by health care practitioners. It has led to the development of a new philosophy of practice known as integrative medicine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lung Cancer Brojde Centre, Segal Cancer Centre, Jewish General Hospital, 3755 Côte-Ste-Catherine Road, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada

    Mary Grossman (Director)

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  1. Mary Grossman
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Correspondence to Mary Grossman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. McGill Programs in Whole Person Care, McGill University, Pine Ave W. 546, Montreal, H2W 1S6, Québec, Canada

    Tom A. Hutchinson

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Grossman, M. (2011). Whole Person Care and Complementary and Alternative Therapies. In: Hutchinson, T. (eds) Whole Person Care. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9440-0_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9440-0_12

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