Alternative Medicine Approach & Hospitality

Have you ever wondered about the difference between integrated and clinical medicine?  Up until recently, I did not.  I assumed that integrated was a more in-depth approach to clinical medicine.  My understanding was that clinical medicine was only making an appointment and visiting a doctor for a sore throat, and he breaks out his/her handy note pad and writes you a prescription.  I call this "spot treatment."  My understanding of integrated medicine was more like case management.  A case manager would be assigned to you and assist in ensuring you received proper, all-around treatment. It is a dedication to your whole health.  But I have learned this week; integrated medicine is the same as alternative medicine, and frankly sounds better.  Plenty of people identify with the label; however, most would be considered health extremists who use garlic instead of chemotherapy, says article author Jennie Rothenberg Gritz.  But is this a fair assessment?  Isn't it more mainstream than that?

According to "The Evolution of Alternative Medicine," enough Americans were interested in integrated medicine in the 1990s, Congress established an Office of Alternative Medicine with the National Institutes of Health.  Within just a couple of years, they worked with a $50 million budget, directly associated with non-primary care treatments.  There is an interest, globally, in integrated health care.  The research article "The impacts of uncertainty in society on the use of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine: a comparative study on visits to alternative/traditional/folk health care practitioners" dissects the global data of 32 countries. The volume of data in this article is overwhelming; however, it concludes that alternative medicine was most associated with job insecurity. Yet it is seen as a luxury as it has a higher out-of-pocket expense rate, and I agree.

I'm curious to explore how alternative medicine can relate to the built environment, specifically retail and hospitality design.  Even though alternative medicine is technically healthcare, one could argue that it should be available in other fields, such as hospitality.  The name itself insinuates, "we will take care of you."  It will be interesting to explore a more direct correlation between alternative (integrated medicine) and hospitality design. Treatment doesn't have to be in hospitals and doctor offices.  

According to SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, there are six dimensions of wellness: Emotional, Occupational, Physical, Social, Intellectual, and Spiritual. Many traditional medical practices recognize the need to incorporate some level of alternative medicine into their practices.  By doing so, they provide a more comprehensive list of services to their patients.  However, specializing in one particular field has its advantages.  Peers and patients recognize your level of expertise.  By offering multiple services, that expertise can get lost or perceived as monopolizing the opportunity. Moving forward, I'd like to see the future of hospitality development be more intentional.  There are a lot of options yet to explore.  I don't know if an integrated approach is right for hospitality, but it is worth investigating.