Many times I have read of examples where Reflexogists would offer sessions to politicians (New York and EU parliament, here and here) in order to inform them and possibly motivate them to proceed in actually taking action to regulate/legislate reflexology and integrate it into the exisiting health systems.
Yesterday I read this, Cypriot nurses' knowledge and attitudes towards alternative medicine
I would like from you to focus on the results paragraph from the abstract!
On top of that, I remembered the story of how Gwen Wyatt MSU College of Nursing was motivated to request a $3.1million grant from the National Institute of Health NIH for the project titled, “Reflexology: An Intervention for Advanced Breast Cancer.” which in the end had positive results for reflexology.
Yesterday I read this, Cypriot nurses' knowledge and attitudes towards alternative medicine
I would like from you to focus on the results paragraph from the abstract!
Results
Over 1/3 of our sample nurses reported that they had turned to some form of alternative treatment at some point in their lives in order to deal with a certain medical situation. Most of these nurses who reported some knowledge on specific alternative treatment methods, (75.9%) also reported using such methods within their clinical practice. The nurses who had received some form of alternative treatment reported using them more often in their clinical practice, in comparison to those who had never received such treatment (Mann–Whitney U = 1137, p = 0.006). The more frequently nurses used alternative treatment in their clinical practice, the more interested they got in expanding their knowledge on the subject (Pearson's r = 0.250, p = 0.006).On top of that, I remembered the story of how Gwen Wyatt MSU College of Nursing was motivated to request a $3.1million grant from the National Institute of Health NIH for the project titled, “Reflexology: An Intervention for Advanced Breast Cancer.” which in the end had positive results for reflexology.
http://photos.msu.edu/p477107766/e5b3e35fc
Unfortunately, for some reason Barbara Brower has "taken down" the story from her web page. Fortunately Reflexologist Karen Ball had blogged the story, here.
"It’s also the story of how the largest federally funded grant for reflexology was awarded.
In the early years of 2000, Dr. Gwen Wyatt, of the University of Michigan’s School of Nursing, suffered a severe break in one of her legs. She underwent months of western care that produced little results. Her next, and last, resort was a surgical procedure that was to implant screws and pins in her thigh bone.
Lucky for Dr. Wyatt, she met Barbara Brower, an experienced and confident reflexologist, who made her a promise she couldn’t refuse. Barbara proposed weekly reflexology sessions for four weeks, with a money-back guarantee if Dr. Wyatt did not see significant improvement in her condition.
Dr. Wyatt hobbled in on crutches; one leg and foot enveloped in a cast, and Barbara set to work. She worked the hand and arm on the casted side and the foot and lower leg on the other. And as they say, the rest is history.
Dr. Wyatt’s improvement was so marked, she chose to continue her reflexology sessions until full recovery was reached, and cancel the scheduled surgery. Dr. Wyatt’s interest in reflexology was so peaked that she wrote a grant application with the National Institutes of Health that resulted in this landmark study."
My Discussion
"How much have we accomplished by knocking on these peoples (politicians) doors ?".
"How much of the already done research was put forward by the initial actions of these reflexology boards?".
The answer to these questions is possibly "little to NONE!".
(My) Bottom line is that "association boards" and working groups should possibly be directing their energy and resources towards informing patient groups, nurses and doctors. From the latter it seems that the GP's our are best choice!
A speculation!
Let us imagine this....
A doctor has been informed about Dr. Wyatt's, positive for Reflexology, research. A female patient with breast cancer confronts him/her, just because Wyatt's research produced positive results and he knows about it, does this imply that the doctor will actually recommend Reflexology compared to other modalities (surgery, chemo, drugs etc.)? No! It does not!
On the other hand, lets imagine the doctor does recommend Reflexology, does this now imply that the female patient will actually follow the doctors recommendation? Maybe yes, maybe no.
It follows, that in the case that the doctor did not recommend Reflexology, but that the female patient knows about this modality and the existing research, that it is possible that she will choose to utilize Reflexology.
The final decision is still up to the patient is it not?
P.S.
Politicians request from us positive research findings, and then they request proven cost effectiveness. Something that has not been mentioned/requested yet but will follow (possibly in an attempt to delay/postpone things even more) is safety. For those interested you might be like to read the discussion following, from Wyatt's research below.
Health-Related Quality-of-Life Outcomes: A Reflexology Trial With Patients With Advanced-Stage Breast Cancer
In a systematic review of reflexology among patients with breast cancer, Kim et al. (2010) concluded that none of the studies reviewed had assessed or reported on safety and that those data must be noted in future studies. The current study was the first to have a data and safety monitoring committee, which quarterly reviewed the data for adverse events and incorporated a mechanism for reporting adverse events through a standardized session form. Among a vulnerable sample of women with advanced-stage breast cancer, no adverse events were reported. In addition, rates of reflexology and LFM session completion were high, which adds to the study’s feasibility and credibility; therefore, either can be used with confidence in future studies and practice, with consideration of routine precautions such as open sores and painful foot neuropathy.
Most of the efficacy findings of the current study were supported by prior literature, but depressive symptoms and anxiety were exceptions. Unlike other reflexology studies that reported improvements in emotional functioning and symptoms (Ernst, 2009; Quattrin et al., 2006; Stephenson et al., 2007; Tsay et al., 2008), the current study’s findings did not support those prior results.
