Naturopathic medicine and palliative care may have more in common than meets the eye.
Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are typically trained as primary care providers and treat a wide range of acute and chronic conditions. Like palliative care, naturopathic medicine addresses a person’s physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual needs.
Dr. Ian Loopker, a naturopathic physician at Oregon-based Ashland Consciousness Medicine, says palliative care providers and naturopathic doctors have one thing in common: a person-centered approach. This Oregon-based clinic uses psychedelic-assisted therapy to address the symptoms of terminally ill patients.
“Palliative care is deeply connected to and very much in line with the core principles of naturopathy,” Lupker told Palliative Care News. “One of the principles is to treat the whole person, and the importance of having a multidisciplinary approach and holistic perspective on pain, suffering, and healing. Psychology, spirituality, well-being, culture, and There is an interplay between viewing pain as having multidimensional aspects rather than just being physical. There are many different facets of suffering that can influence and exacerbate each other.”
Naturopathic care focuses on the use of natural agents and physical means to help patients, and typically avoids the use of medications or surgical treatments. Care includes nutrition, botanical, herbal, and homeopathic medicine, lifestyle guidance, and therapies such as massage, hydrotherapy, acupressure, and electromagnetic stimulation. Naturopathic medicine may also include psychological support and counseling.
According to research published in the Journal of Integrative Medicine, naturopathic medicine identifies the root cause of a person’s condition, provides continuing education about treatments and options, and uses natural pathways to The focus is on helping people improve their mental, emotional and physical health.
Naturopathy principles run “in parallel” with palliative care principles and aim to address psychosocial and spiritual needs as well as pain and suffering, Lübker said. For example, he explained, both palliative care and naturopathic care understand that even the concept of suffering differs from person to person.
“A naturopath’s toolkit is full of tools that train them to attend to all aspects of their patients that require attention from a holistic perspective,” Lupker said. “Pain can be brought down to a finer level. We also all have spiritual needs, different beliefs and understandings that define what suffering is, why we suffer, and how we alleviate it.” It has something in common with palliative care in that it recognizes that
Roopkar said stronger care coordination between naturopathic and palliative care physicians could address a wide range of unmet patient and caregiver needs.
Approximately 89.3% of elderly patients receiving naturopathic care experience a reduced burden of cardiometabolic, cognitive, and musculoskeletal symptoms compared to other patients, according to a 2022 study published in BMC Health Services Research. It is reported that it was done.
Almost 75% of the naturopathic patient population surveyed in this study had some type of chronic disease. Many of these patients are seen by multidisciplinary health care professionals, the study found.
“There are a lot of things that intersect with different aspects of holistic healing, suffering, and understanding the holistic concept of pain,” Lupker says. “When we focus on what is true and most meaningful to people, interconnection and transformation occur. Applying naturopathic care to patients undergoing palliative treatment can help them become less fearful of their condition as the symptoms progress.” , receive more support through the ripples and tsunamis of pain, waves of emotions of grief, anxiety, and social isolation.”
