IN-PERSON COURSES
ONLINE COURSESYoga and Trends in Healthcare
I’ve been out in Los Angeles for a few days visiting family and friends, hiking, taking yoga classes, and doing a bit of research for my work. While some may think that I despise this place (after last week’s blog) that couldn’t be further from the truth! One of the things I love about southern California (in addition to endless opportunities for eucalyptus aromatherapy), is that it’s such a hotspot for creativity and innovation in all fields.
An exciting opportunity I had this week was a chance to sit down and have a chat with a health promotion consultant who works with health care giant Kaiser Permanente. We discussed some of the current trends in healthcare and where and how yoga might fit in. She was super encouraging and positive.
“Yoga, mindfulness, and meditation are all at the top of the list of the direction in which things are moving,” she told me, “because the conversation is centered around finding ways to promote and reward personal accountability for health.”
When I questioned her about things like social determinants of health, the ACE study, and the influence of social networks on health she said, “Yes, it’s complicated, there are many factors. But still the trend is moving in the direction of personal accountability.”
There have been lots of opportunities for bringing yoga into treatment areas like cancer care and addiction recovery, but an important piece of the health crisis puzzle is shifting some of the focus away from treatment and toward health promotion and disease prevention (which seems super obvious, but it’s a massive societal juggernaut and changing from a sick care model to a health care model takes time!)
So, the conversation around rewarding positive health behaviors (like exercising, quitting smoking, improving your diet, etc.) is a timely and important one. Insurance companies, of course, are getting in on it as well – maybe you’ve seen the commercials for getting better rates if you exercise and eat well?
Early this month, the National Institute of Health released the results of a survey which showed that many doctors are recommending Complementary Health Approaches (CHA). In fact, all of the physicians that responded to the survey said they recommend some form of CHA and 25 percent said that they recommend yoga!
Docs who have their own yoga practice are (unsurprisingly) the ones who are most likely to recommend yoga (they are also largely female). The fact that physicians are recommending self-care practices like yoga is an example of how the trend toward personal accountability is showing up in clinical practice.
One of the most urgent areas of the health care crisis right now is the treatment of chronic pain. Because it’s so difficult to treat and because the standard of care has led to the opioid crisis, the medical community is desperate to find better ways to address the problem.
Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services released the “Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force report: Updates, Gaps, Inconsistencies, and Recommendations” which includes the recommendation to utilize CHAs. One of the challenges cited in the report is that, “There is a gap in the understanding of complementary and integrative health approaches.”
This gap exists not just in the minds of the public, but also in the minds of health care professionals who tend to classify yoga as exercise (maybe with a sprinkle of relaxation on top) and really don’t know how to recommend it because it’s such a varied practice with an array of iterations – many of which are risky and inaccessible.
I think this can start to change if we, in the yoga world, begin to do a better job of educating health care professionals – describing what we do and letting them know that not all yoga is pretzel bendy, joint overloading and dangerous, and that some of us are really mind-body experts rather than (or in addition to) fitness professionals.
Yoga is such a natural fit for this trend toward personal accountability. Now we’re tasked with figuring out how we can better interface with the health care world to get the power of this practice to more people and help make real and lasting changes to the trajectory of health.
Thank you do much for keeping us current and putting your heart and soul into this every day!
Yes…this is fantastic news.
Great to see things are going the right direction! My cardiologist/harmone doctor has also gone this direction even going to have start yoga classes in the future! I know within the last 4 years I personally have had doctors and nurses in my classes and even they were surprised about what they have learned i.e. breathing, meditation and relaxation.
How wonderful Carol! Yes, the highly stressed out medical community really needs this practice too!
Thank you so much for this post! I hope that we continue to see a trend in Western Medical providers embracing alternatives in natural, homeopathic treatments for treatment of their patients.
As a health care provider and a Hatha Yoga Instructor I find that integrating both Body and Mind is top priority! I am always recommending Yoga and my patients love that I embrace Western and Eastern Medicine!
One of the presenters for my 500 hr was a PhD psychologist who specializes in pain management and who is also a 200 hr RYT! It’s sooo wonderful when we have people in the health care community that have both the medical AND the yoga training. They get that not all Yoga is the same. And understand the difference between fitness and therapeutic forms. Unfortunately there have been too many times a well meaning doctor who does not practice yoga but read some article about the benefits has recommended Yoga to an older and frail patient with back pain who then shows up at a hot vinyasa studio and is lost. It’s all about education for medical and insurance personnel and for patients. Thank you Kristine for being a tireless part of the education! We all need to spread the word. Yoga is for everyone but not every form of yoga is for every person.
Oh, So True! Too many times I have heard the sorry story of well-meaning physicians prescribing ‘yoga.’ Period.
Perhaps a complimentary visit for the doc to a hot yoga class might be part of the education!
Hi Kristine!
Love this info about connections with yoga and the medical world. I understand the the words “Complimentary Health Approach” in that yoga, meditation, and mindfulness help to heal clients faster in conjunction with their meds. and/or other treatments, but the word “complimentary” right away makes me think FREE! You know like, “complimentary breakfast”! Mmmmmm… Not sure if I have a thoughtful alternative, but the wordS “additional” or “cohesive” might work better because then there’ shouldn’t be a question about who’s paying for it, the client!
Just sayin’
Getting the Slow Mindful Yoga brochures printed as I write this.
Thank you for the inspiration!
Terri Rucker
From San Diego
That’s hilarious Terri! Hopefully they will see the “e”! LOL!
Hello and thank you for sharing this VERY important information! This article particularly hit home for me as a C-IAYT who has been struggling to educate the public on the difference between Yoga and Yoga Therapy. I’m not sure if you are familiar or not, but there’s an organization called the IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapy) that began in 1989 specifically to support research and education in yoga therapy and serves worldwide. Their mission is to establish yoga as a recognized and respected therapy within the healthcare field. In 2016 the IAYT’s long awaited professional yoga therapy certification program was launched, with a (C-IAYT) credential. That being; certified by the IAYT in Yoga Therapy as a “Yoga Therapist”. C-IAYT’s have in-depth training with various medical professionals that span across varying conditions and diagnoses. Training consists of over 1000 hours, in addition to their yoga training, to help them assess and keep their clients safe. They work to address specific goals while considering any limitations a client or small group class may be experiencing. The practices a yoga therapist recommends could include: Movement ranging from gentle to vigorous, Breathing techniques, Meditation or visualization practices, Physical postures that address specific areas of discomfort or musculoskeletal imbalances, any additional training within a the individuals scope of practice and any combination of tools like these. If any fellow RYT’s are looking to join in on the Yoga Therapy field, I encourage you to delve into their website for more information around bridging the gap between Yoga and the healthcare field. Thank you again for sharing and I thoroughly enjoy your emails!
Hey Shannon,
thanks so much for your comments! And yes, I’m aware of IAYT. I’ve been a member of IAYT since the 90s, have written many articles for their journals and attended many conferences. I am currently conducting research at a drug and alcohol treatment center and have been an advocate for the profession for a very long time. While it’s a noble cause and I completely agree that yoga needs to be professionalized, at the moment, the main problem is lack of demand for yoga therapists within the system. There are very few positions for yoga therapists which makes training, for many people inaccessible. So, I am working in the margins at the moment with the intention of further the field to the best of my ability with what I can. You may be interested in checking out the numerous articles I’ve written for Yoga Therapy in Practice on the intersection of yoga therapy and health care. All the best!
Now doctors recommend Yoga in our day-to-day lives. This is a step ahead. Thanks for writing.