Page 104 - Cultural Competence in Health Education

EXHIBIT 4.7. CAM , Holistic Health, and Integrative Healing:
Applications and Challenges for Health Education.
■ The increasing pattern of use of CAM, holistic health and integrative healing prac-
tices has motivated health educators and other practitioners in the behavioral and
medical fi elds to conduct and publish research in this area.

■ In the field of health education, professional development organizations such as
AAHE, SOPHE and others have started to provide grants, under the umbrella of cul-

tural competence, to find out the applications of CAM, holistic health and integra-

tive healing in this field. Although this is a promising start, more funding is needed
to motivate health education practitioners to conduct research in these areas.
■ CAM, holistic health and integrative healing are now being addressed in professional
development agendas for health educators.
■ According to Johnson and Johnson (2004), health educators need to be aware of
the current status of CAM use in the U.S., become familiar with different forms
of CAM therapy, discuss commonly used CAM therapies with clients, assist clients
in their selection of appropriate CAM therapies to promote health and prevent dis-
ease, encourage clients to communicate the use of CAM therapies to their health
care providers, have continuing education opportunities in CAM from professional
organizations, and offer CAM courses in professional health education preparation
programs.
■ In health education . . . no national standards have been developed yet to unify the
curriculum for the training of health educators on CAM, holistic health and integra-
tive healing. Most efforts to teach health educators about these issues have been
developed as part of curriculums that address cultural competence and cultural
profi ciency.
■ Patterson and Graf (2000) wrote a cornerstone article in defense of requiring com-
plementary and alternative medicine training in the curriculum for health educators.
These authors presented a well - founded rationale to support their premise that CAM
should be taught as a separate course, or in the absence of enough resources, be
integrated into existing health education courses.
■ Section 3 of Article VI of the Code of Ethics for the Health Education Profession:
“ Responsibility in Professional Preparation, ” indicates that health educators should
be involved in professional preparation and professional development programs that
provide them with materials that are accurate, up - to - date and timely.
■ It is essential that entry - level health educators become knowledgeable of the scien-

tific and cultural basis of the various forms of CAM, holistic health practices, and
integrative healing therapies. This knowledge will provide health educators with the
professional skills to become accurate health resources.

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