Reducing Pain And Increasing Patient Comfort With Complementary, Holistic Therapies

At Garnet Health Medical Center, we are strong believers in offering complementary therapies (‘alternative’, ‘integrative’ or ‘holistic’ therapies) to our patients. From cancer care to behavioral health to maternity care, our complementary therapies can be a valuable part of our patient treatment, offering holistic and natural ways to reduce the pain and anxieties of our patients, and offer comfort and an opportunity to relax and recuperate.

We call these “complementary therapies” because they are offered in combination with a patient’s conventional medical treatment as determined by our physicians and medical providers.

Complementary therapies treat the whole person, rather than the symptom of the disease. These include:

• Homeopathy
• Naturopathy
• Yoga
• Aromatherapy
• Reiki
• Acupuncture

Often used alongside conventional medicine in a belief they can ‘complement’ treatments.

Thanks to a seed grant from the ORMC Foundation, our complementary therapy services have been able to expand in exciting and innovative ways, such as the use of Virtual Reality goggles that can provide a guided meditation experience to help patients cope with pain or fear. Recently, Forbes.com featured ORMC in a video segment about our trial in Pediatrics and the Children’s ED, as well as Dr. Ralph Anderson’s use of VR to ease pain during labor.

We hope to roll out VR therapy to our joint replacement patients and study its effectiveness in reducing pain after surgery.

Patients Receiving Holistic Care at Garnet Health Medical Center

We are also working on developing a Beading Therapy program where patients can create beautiful pieces of jewelry while hospitalized.  For some patients, Beading can decrease stress and lower blood pressure, as well as improve fine motor and visual skills.

For more information about alternative therapies, visit us at www.ormc.org/CAM or contact CAM Coordinator, Judy Maloy at jmaloy1@ghvhs.org.