Many patients feel lost within the broad landscape of modern healthcare delivery. If the Illness-Wellness Continuum serves as a guiding compass, complementary medicine is the best descriptor of the broadest model for delivering quality care.

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines complementary medicine as “a non-mainstream approach used together with conventional medicine.” Conventional medicine refers to the current standard practice (commonly viewed within the mainstream as using medications, procedures, and surgeries). Within the HolSpan outreach, I will refer to my everyday practice of urology as my conventional urology practice. 

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Complementary approaches have been traditionally focused on:

Nutrition

• Supplements
• Nutraceuticals

Psychological Domains

• Mindfulness
• Meditation
• Spiritual practices

Physical Manipulations

• Contrast therapy
• Manual therapies

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Complementary approaches work with conventional medicine, attempting to align the best that both approaches have to offer. This contrasts with “alternative” approaches, which the NIH defines as “non-mainstream approaches used in place of conventional medicine.” This distinction is worth noting and referencing as many terms have been used historically, each with differing biases and outright stigma. 

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The HolSpan approach seeks to distill the best each approach offers to achieve synergy. While most patients may be familiar with some of the complementary approaches (mainly the use of nutritional supplements), HolSpan seeks to extend the focus onto sleep and circadian hygiene, daily habits, and the connections we form during our lives (to list a few areas that are focused on). HolSpan aspires to convince you that these inputs may be just as impactful as medicines or other conventional interventions. 

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Conventional approaches, when taken to an extreme, can be criticized as reductionistic and fragmented, with a lack of focus on the whole person, their individual goals, and their healthspan (quality of life). The HolSpan approach engages patients with their concerns, fears, wants, desires, and goals, empowering them to navigate their concerns (bolstering shared decision-making between patient and provider). HolSpan aspires to be deeply complementary, spanning the whole gambit of the human experience for both patient and healthcare provider.

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Sources:

• NIH. (n.d.). Complementary, Alternative, or Integrative Health: What’s In a Name? [Online]. Available at: Link to the article
• AHRQ. (n.d.). The SHARE Approach: A Model for Shared Decision Making - Fact Sheet [Online]. Available at: Link to the article