Hospitals using alternative treatments in tandem with traditional approaches

Originally published April 28 2005 at NewsTarget.com
Hospitals across the United States are increasingly using a number of alternative treatment techniques in tandem with their more traditional approaches. The American Hospital Association says about 17 percent of hospitals now offer some sort of alternative treatment such as reiki or massage therapy to complement their traditional physical therapy services. That's up from 8 percent in 1998.

* Psychiatrist Dr. Eric Leskowitz and physical therapist Tamara Geist treat Paul Spada for chronic pain with reiki at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston.
* is one of a number of nontraditional healing practices making inroads into hospitals nationwide.
* According to the American Hospital Association's latest available survey of hospitals, 17 percent of hospitals offered complementary or alternative medicine services in 2002, up from 8 percent in 1998.Along with reiki, other therapies available in local hospitals include therapeutic touch , aromatherapy, massage, energy healing and reflexology.
* Integrative medicine sticks to much of the protocol of conventional medicine, but ties in a holistic approach that incorporates treating the whole person since emotions and attitudes are intimately linked to disease and recovery.Registered nurse Dorene Kominsky of Easton learned this first-hand.
* She introduced complementary therapies by becoming a member of the Pain Control Committee and went on to train 66 nurses in energy healing and reiki .
* Eric D. Leskowitz, director of Spaulding's Integrative Medicine Task Force, is working on a pilot study to measure the impact of energy work on chronic pain and to show that energy work is beneficial beyond the standard approach.''The main idea is to compare those patients who get the standard rehab program with those who get the standard plus twice weekly energy work,'' Leskowitz said.Staff nurse Maureen P. Foye, working with Leskowitz on the study, has spent the past 10 of her 20-year nursing career at Spaulding's Inpatient Chronic Pain Unit incorporating therapeutic touch and energy healing into her treatment of patients while Tamara A. Geist, a physical therapist, provides reiki treatment.''Many patients report decreased anxiety and pain and a deep feeling of peace after a treatment,'' said Foye, who uses therapeutic touch to smooth and balance the energy field which she says can promote healing.'The human energy field extends beyond the body and can become imbalanced, which then affects the physical body,'' Foye said.