Health Watch provides general health information as it relates to alternative and complementary care. It does not diagnose, treat or prescribe. If you have symptoms, please consult your physician or professional healthcare practitioner for advice.

The best time to choose a health practitioner is when you are in good health. You will have time to make a careful choice. Unfortunately, in the era of health maintenance organizations (HMO’s), choosing a medical doctor depends more on your insurance policy that it does on personal preference.

Alternative health care practitioners offer more freedom of choice because they are usually not members of HMOs. The up side to this is you are free to choose. The down side is all payment for a service rendered comes out of your own pocket. Check your insurance policy—many services once considered “alternative,” or complementary, are now part of standard insurance coverage.

Choosing the alternative health care practitioner who is right for you is a daunting task. The choices of names and types of treatment options can be confusing. A good place to start your journey is with the American Holistic Nurses Association at www.ahna.org. Click the Directory from the home page and search by state. You’ll discover many holistic practitioners in your area.

You can also look in the yellow pages, make phone calls, surf the web using a search engine such as Google, go to the public library, or check the ads at your neighborhood health food store. Call any hospital that offers a “whole life” (alternative therapy) department. Browse the ‘alternative health’ section of a bookstore, or ask your friends and neighbors for a recommendation. Above all, become informed about the options available to you and the practitioners in your area.

Once you have a name, contact the practitioner’s office and ask for references, which will tell you more about the person’s qualifications. Make sure the practitioner is appropriately qualified to your own satisfaction. Before and after the first visit, ask yourself the following questions: 1

• Are you comfortable with the practitioner’s age and gender?
• Do you have easy access to the office? How far do you have to travel?
• Is the office clean and staff courteous?
• Can you reach the practitioner to schedule an appointment without much delay?
• Did you have to wait long to see the practitioner?
• Did the provider put you at ease, listening to your concerns and answering any questions you had?
• If you were given a test or asked to buy a treatment, medicine or herb, did you understand what it was for, how much it cost, how to use it correctly and what to do if you had problems?
• Determine you need a second opinion if: your practitioner recommends anything that feels “radical” to you, a rare or fatal condition is diagnosed, your practitioner does not seem to know what to do for you or, your symptoms don’t improve over time.
• Did you feel satisfied with your first visit—and most importantly—did you sense yourself to be a partner in your own health care decisions?

During the first appointment, describe what the problem is in detail. Tell your new practitioner if you are under the care of another health professional, or taking any prescribed or over-the-counter medications, including herbal supplements. Don’t expect your practitioner to “guess” or “divine” your symptoms. Ask questions and impart details.

Make a note of the things you’d like to discuss on the first visit and refer to your notes during the appointment. If you don’t think your practitioner listens to you or communicates clearly enough, tell him or her so. If things don’t improve, consider changing practitioners. Hold alternative health care practitioners to the same level of professionalism as you expect from anyone else in the health care field. It’s your money, your body, and your life.

NOTE: For simplicity, “alternative, complementary and holistic” are used interchangeably here, though in the purest sense they are not.
Footnote:
1Mosby’s Conventional Medicine/Alternative Medicine: Choices of Treatment for Your Most Common Medical Problems. Caroline Green, Editor. (St. Louis, MO: Mosby—Year Book, Inc., 1998), p. 6.


Christine Jette is a registered nurse and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. She is a therapeutic touch practitioner, member of the American Holistic Nurses Association, freelance technical writer, and author of four books: Tarot Shadow Work, Tarot for the Healing Heart, Tarot for All Seasons and Professional Tarot. (Llewellyn Publications, Inc.) She lives in Cincinnati with her husband and three cats. Visit her on the web at: www.findingthemuse.com