Project preamble
Thank you for taking part in a research study being led by Dr Carolyn Ee from NICM, Western Sydney University. This research project seeks to identify the clinical needs of GPs for integrative medicine (IM) services (i.e. blending of evidence-informed complementary medicine therapies with conventional healthcare) in Western Sydney. The information identified will be utilised to refine the model of care for a prospective academic IM clinic in Western Sydney (to be located at the University of Western Sydney campus at Westmead) that NICM is considering setting up.
This study provides a unique opportunity to engage the local primary care sector and participate in design of this prospective clinic so that the model of care is better able to meet service requirements of clinicians and patients, and ensure delivery of a quality and safe IM service that has potential to improve patient outcomes in Western Sydney. The study will take place between October 2017 and April 2018.
Academic Integrative Medicine Centres
More than 70 esteemed academic health centres, medical schools, and affiliate institutions in the US and Canada have programs in IM, grouped within The Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine. These institutes include Ivy League universities within Schools of Medicine, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Pennsylvania as well as other institutions such as Stanford University, Mayo Clinic, and University of California, Los Angeles. The mission of such institutions is to advance the principles and practices of IM and advance rigorous scientific research in IM.
Integrative medicine refers to the blending of evidence-informed complementary medicine therapies, such as acupuncture, meditation, and yoga, with conventional healthcare
NICM Western Sydney Clinic
The proposed clinic aims to be a world-class academic IM clinic within a research-based culture. The mission and vision of the clinic are:
- Mission: to provide patients with high-quality evidence-informed IM services in order to improve patient
outcomes
- Vision: to be a clinic of excellence for best practice in patient-centred IM, and a model embedding research into practice
The core values of the clinic are:
Quality and safety: utilise a shared medical record, communicate with other healthcare providers, use data to inform quality improvement, rigorous credentialing of practitioners
Patient-centred and community centric: deliver an equitable patient-centred model of care defined by needs of the community, and engage patients and families as active partners in health decisions and healthcare
Evidence based: use evidence-based health pathways in clinical decision making, and balance scientific evidence and patient preferences to inform decision making
Evidence generating: collect data on patient-reported outcomes, patient experience, and cost effectiveness,
and create a research hub where research is embedded into practice
NICM WESTERN SYDNEY CLINIC_PROJECT PREAMBLE_2A NICM.EDU.AU 2
The clinic will provide the following services:
- Acupuncture
- Chinese herbal medicine
- Chinese massage
- Mindfulness
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Tai chi
- Health literacy and health promotion activities
Over time, the clinic will also provide the following programs:
- Healthy Lives after Cancer
- Healthy women
- Healthy minds
- Healthy hearts
It is anticipated that medical oversight will be provided by onsite medical practitioners, most likely a qualified general medical practitioner. However, the role of the doctors in this new clinical service is yet to be defined.
The clinic will actively contribute to: (1) improving health of populations, (2) enhancing patient experiences, (3) reducing healthcare costs, and (4) providing support for health professionals. The clinic aims to enable individuals to responsibly access quality IM services safely, effectively, and reproducibly in an equitable and coordinated way.