Page 105 - Cultural Competence in Health Education

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 83

■ Academic training on CAM, holistic health and integrative healing should be included
at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
■ Creating standards related to CAM, holistic health and integrative healing for the
professional preparation of health educators implies a revision of the require-
ments for Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES). Although CHES certifi ca-

tion addresses issues related to cultural competence and proficiency, it needs to be

extended to assess health educators ’ knowledge and scientific understanding of . . .

basic forms of CAM, holistic health and integrative healing. . . . This indicates that
health educators with CHES designation should be professionals with scientifi c and
socio - cultural knowledge on alternative and complementary healing practices.
■ An additional challenge for health educators is to generate knowledge on the appli-
cations of integrative healing to the practice of health education . . . . Theses, doctoral
dissertations and professional research on this issue should be encouraged at all levels
of professional preparation.

Source: Pinzon - P é rez, 2005. Reprinted with permission.

Some of the philosophical principles for holistic nurses that health educators
and other health professionals could adhere to include the understanding that they
(1) can have a professional practice that promotes wholeness; (2) can motivate
individuals to become responsible health consumers; (3) should provide services
to individuals, families, and communities in ways that integrate the body, the mind,
and the spirit; and (4) should advocate for the understanding that illness is an oppor-
tunity for individuals to regain their wholeness (AHNA, 2004). According to AHNA,
nurses should begin by developing lifestyles congruent with a philosophy of whole-
ness. Health educators too should consider embracing this concept and developing
for themselves lifestyles oriented toward inner - self enhancement and holistic health,
lifestyles that will ultimately enable them to provide a better quality of health educa-
tion services.
A possible strategy for enhancing the understanding of CAM in health education
would be to create ad hoc and standing committees in professional organizations, such
as the American Association for Health Education and the Society for Public Health

Education, to stimulate scientific inquiry and develop a specific body of knowledge on
the integration of CAM into health education. As mentioned earlier, Patterson and
Graf (2000) have made a call to health educators to incorporate CAM into the health

education curriculum. Of particular relevance in the development of a specific body of
knowledge on CAM for health education is the study of culturally competent health
education programs in relation to complementary and alternative medicine, holistic
health, and integrative healing.

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