Thinking Integration

Setting up a working group for the creation of a directory of health professionals with mind-body practice expertise.

By Isabelle Celestin-Lhopiteau, Pascale Wanquet-Thibault

Coordinators of the IFPPC working group 'Directory of health professionals with Mind-Body Practice expertise'

         The objective of this working group is to create 'a directory of activities and/or competences (posture, willfulness, etc.) of resource health professionals in Mind-Body Practices'.

         This document will be used as a reference for health professionals who are trained or who wish to be trained in Mind-Body Practices, but also for institutional officials, training managers, medical and paramedical managers who wish to seek an adviser. The group will also be able to work on providing an updated listing of advisers in Mind-Body Practices.

         In order to do this work, we have created this group which is made up of various health professionals (doctors, nurses, nursing aids, psychologists, etc.) who are already involved in the effective implementation of Mind-Body Practices in their hospital or in a private office.

         This working group will create these documents which will be read by other professionals who are also involved in the effective implementation of Mind-Body Practices.

Why develop such a directory?

         In 2017, health professionals, as well as the public in general, are more and more intrigued by the fast development of Mind-Body Practices, and by the evolution of the understanding of their mechanism. These practices are also questioned by the controversies over their effectiveness – which may or may not be linked to the lack scientific evidence.

         If Mind-Body Practices are made more and more available to patients, we have noticed that there are still great differences in where and how they are managed; and we have also found several false information about how care givers can gain access to such trainings.

         Nevertheless, thanks to the improvement of training in Mind-Body Practices for health professionals, we have noticed that the care takers who have been trained – whatever their activity or function - are asked for advice about patients, and bring their expertise in many different situations.

         Our experience gained from the creation of a Mind-Body Practices and Integrative Health Diploma – which is now 6 years old – has shown us the importance of identifiying the activities and expertise of these professionals which can then be recognized among their care facility or professional networks. This diploma highlights quality research studies, and in particular, the development of integrating Mind-Body Practices, as well as the work on the willfulness of care givers and their attitude.

         This evolution allows us to better structure this field of care, which often raises debate or caution, in particular from institution managers and professional associations. In recent years, in the field of health, and particularly in regards to service quality approaches, appointing advisers has been a common practice in various domains - hygiene, food, pain, etc. In this context, directories of activities and expertise have been created to help professionals identify their function and play their role as advisers.

What is an adviser in Mind-Body Practices?

         Being an adviser is being a ressource person capable of bringing information and technical expertise on Mind-Body Practices during care and therapies. The aim of our working group is to develop a directory in this very precise field of Mind-Body Practices.

         Our first working principles were to define the role of these advisers in Mind-Body Practices, i.e.:

•    Encouraging the integration of these practices in the institutions' projects where they work, by disseminating accurate information

•    Ensure that rules of good practices and legislation are followed as far as these practices are concerned

•    Make sure that these practices integrate the patients' health care plans, in a sound way, and that these practices are not alternative practices

•    Allow care givers to stand - among their professional bodies - for accurate information about integrative medicine and the interest of these various practices – while working closely with the environment and their hierarchy

         This working group has been meeting regularly since the second half of 2017 at the IFPPC (French Institute ofr Mind-Body Practices). It will release this directory in Spring 2018.