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Listening to Their Words: A Qualitative Analysis of Integrative Medicine Group Visits in an Urban Underserved Medical Setting
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Family Medicine and Community HealthCenter for Integrated Primary Care
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2016-06-01Keywords
Chronic PainGroup Medical Visit
Integrative Medicine
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Qualitative Methods
Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Behavioral Medicine
Health Psychology
Integrative Medicine
Movement and Mind-Body Therapies
Pain Management
Psychiatry and Psychology
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Integrative Medicine Group Visits (IMGVs) are an 8-week outpatient medical group visit program for chronic pain patients combining mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), integrative medicine, and patient education. The authors conducted a qualitative study with IMGV participants to better understand the effects of IMGVs on patients' health. DESIGN: This qualitative study enrolled a convenience sample of 19 participants from the parent prospective observational cohort study of IMGVs (n = 65). All participants in the parent study were invited to participate. SETTING: Boston Medical Center (BMC) is a private, not-for-profit, 496-bed, academic medical center and the largest safety net hospital in New England. SUBJECTS: Individuals in this study had a diagnosis of chronic pain and/or one or more chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, depression, or metabolic syndrome), had attended > /=1 group visit, and their 8-week session had ended before completing the interview. METHODS: The authors conducted individual semi-structured interviews. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, and analyzed. RESULTS: Participants cite gains from IMGVs including improved self-monitoring, self-regulation, and increased mindfulness. The group setting leads patients to feel "not alone" in their health conditions, gain a sense of perspective on their health, and share coping strategies in a supportive network. These improvements in physical and mental health improved clinical outcomes for participants including reductions in pain. CONCLUSIONS: Group visits and integrative medicine both offer some potential solutions in the treatment of chronic pain. Models such as IMGVs can help individuals living with chronic conditions, addressing their emotional and physical health needs.Source
Pain Medicine, Volume 17, Issue 6, 1 June 2016, Pages 1183–1191. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnw030. [Epub ahead of print] Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1093/pm/pnw030Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/26833PubMed ID
27040666Notes
At the time of publication, Paula Gardiner was not yet affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/pm/pnw030
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Integrative Medicine in a Preventive Medicine Residency: A Program for the Urban UnderservedBerz, Jonathan P.B.; Gergen Barnett, Katherine A.; Gardiner, Paula; Saper, Robert B. (2015-11-01)The Preventive Medicine Residency Program collaborated with the Department of Family Medicine's Program for Integrative Medicine and Health Disparities at Boston Medical Center to create a new rotation for preventive medicine residents starting in autumn 2012. Residents participated in integrative medicine group visits and consults, completed an online curriculum in dietary supplements, and participated in seminars all in the context of an urban safety net hospital. This collaboration was made possible by a federal Health Resources and Services Administration grant for integrative medicine in preventive medicine residencies and helped meet a need of the program to increase residents' exposure to clinical preventive medicine and integrative health clinical skills and principles. The collaboration has resulted in a required rotation for all residents that continues after the grant period and has fostered additional collaborations related to integrative medicine across the programs.
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Family medicine residency program directors attitudes and knowledge of family medicine CAM competenciesGardiner, Paula; Filippelli, Amanda C.; Lebensohn, Patricia; Bonakdar, Robert (2013-09-01)CONTEXT: Little is known about the incorporation of integrative medicine (IM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) into family medicine residency programs. OBJECTIVE: The Society for Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) approved a set of CAM/IM competencies for family medicine residencies. We hope to evaluate whether residency programs are implementing such competencies into their curriculum using an online survey tool. We also hope to assess the knowledge and attitudes of Residency Directors (RDs) on the CAM/IM competencies. DESIGN: A survey was distributed by the Council of Academic Family Medicine (CAFM) Educational Research Alliance to RDs via e-mail. The survey was distributed to 431 RDs. Of those who received it, 212 responded, giving a response rate of 49.1%. Questions assessed the knowledge and attitudes of CAM/IM competencies and incorporation of CAM/IM into the residency curriculum. RESULTS: Forty-five percent of RDs were aware of the competencies. In terms of RD attitudes, 58% reported that CAM/IM is an important component of residents' curriculum; yet, 60% report not having specific learning objectives for CAM/IM in their residency curriculum. Among all programs, barriers to CAM/IM implementation included time in residents' schedules (77%); faculty training (75%); access to CAM experts (43%); lack of reimbursement (43%); and financial resources (29%). CONCLUSIONS: While many RDs are aware of the STFM CAM/IM competencies and acknowledge their role in residence education, there are many barriers that prevent residencies from implementing the STFM CAM/IM competencies.
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Health literacy and complementary and alternative medicine use among underserved inpatients in a safety net hospitalGardiner, Paula; Mitchell, Suzanne E; Filippelli, Amanda C.; Sadikova, Ekaterina; White, Laura F.; Paasche-Orlow, Michael K.; Jack, Brian W. (2013-12-01)Little is known about the relationship between health literacy and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in low-income racially diverse patients. The authors conducted a secondary analysis of baseline data from 581 participants enrolled in the Re-Engineered Discharge clinical trial. The authors assessed sociodemographic characteristics, CAM use, and health literacy. They used bivariate and multivariate logistic regression to test the association of health literacy with four patterns of CAM use. Of the 581 participants, 50% reported using any CAM, 28% used provider-delivered CAM therapies, 27% used relaxation techniques, and 21% used herbal medicine. Of those with higher health literacy, 55% used CAM. Although there was no association between health literacy and CAM use for non-Hispanic Black participants, non-Hispanic White (OR = 3.68, 95% CI [1.27, 9.99]) and Hispanic/other race (OR = 3.40, 95% CI [1.46, 7.91]) participants were significantly more likely to use CAM if they had higher health literacy. For each racial/ethnic group, there were higher odds of using relaxation techniques among those with higher health literacy. Underserved hospitalized patients use CAM. Regardless of race, patients with high health literacy make greater use of relaxation techniques.