Self-Administered Mind-Body Practices for Reducing Health Disparities: An Interprofessional Opinion and Call to Action

• Published in: Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine Vol. 2016; no. 2016; pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Kinser, Patricia Anne, Masho, Saba W., Robins, Jo Lynne W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 01-01-2016; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Cost control; Handicapped accessibility; Health aspects; Health care; Health care industry; Health disparities; Health promotion; Hispanic Americans; Massage; Meditation; Minority & ethnic groups; Mortality; Patients; Population; Quality; Researchers; Review; Studies; Yoga; United States > US
• ISSN: 1741-427X; 1741-4288
• DOI: 10.1155/2016/2156969

Health disparities (HD) continue to persist in the United States which underscores the importance of using low-cost, accessible, evidence-based strategies that can improve health outcomes, especially for chronic conditions that are prevalent among underserved minority populations. Complementary/integrative health modalities, particularly self-administered mind-body practices (MBP), can be extremely useful in reducing HD because they are intrinsically patient-centered and they empower patients to actively engage in self-care of health and self-management of symptoms. Interprofessional healthcare providers and patients can engage in powerful partnerships that encompass self-administered MBP to improve health. This is a call to action for interprofessional researchers to engage in high-quality research regarding efficacy and cost-effectiveness of self-administered MBP, for practitioners to engage patients in self-administered MBP for health promotion, disease prevention, and symptom management, and for healthcare institutions to integrate self-administered MBP into conventional health practices to reduce HD in their communities.