A burgeoning movement is taking place in hospitals and clinics across the country, integrating the best of high-tech medicine with a new attitude that recognizes it is essential to the healing process to treat the patient as a whole person, and not a cog in an assembly line. A new public television documentary, The New Medicine, suggests that medical practice in America may be on the brink of a transformation. As scientific findings reveal that the mind plays a critical role in the body’s capacity to heal, the medical community is beginning to embrace a new range of treatment options, including many once considered fringe.
The program, which airs this Thursday on most PBS stations, is hosted by the late Dana Reeve, who died last month with lung cancer following the death of her husband Christopher. The two-hour show visits medical schools, healthcare clinics, research institutions, and private practices to show physicians at work on the cutting edge of this new approach. It explores why even some of the most conservative health institutions are now prescribing meditation and self-hypnosis along with high-tech modern medicine. “By paying attention to a person’s cultural values and lifestyle, stresses and supports, these doctors acknowledge the important role that the patient can and should play in their own healing and healthcare.” – The New Medicine web site
“They deliberately focused on mainstream, traditional doctors and departments, not known for being alternative/complementary to better make their point. The strategy works. It’s a real mind-changer and prejudice-breaker.” -Belleruth Naprestek, LISW, Alternative Practitioner, Health Journeys
“The documentary reminds us that some of the outmoded practices of listening to the patient and believing that the body was designed to heal itself should be apart of our medical paradigm, as should partnering with your physician to positively impact your health care.”
– Christiane Northrup, M.D.
The program airs on March 29, 2006. Check local listings to find the times the show will air in your area. Visit their stunning interactive web site at TheNewMedicine.org/
A couple comments about the show
Talking about the humanity that doctors do or don’t exhibit while visiting with a patient, the researcher said, Caring *Is* healing”