EDUCATION RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
THURSDAY, 5:30-6:15 PM
Burke A.
Perceptions of an undergraduate holistic health/CAM curriculum:
building the foundation for the transformation of healthcare.
San Francisco State University aburke@sfsu.edu
PURPOSE: Currently the majority of MD programs
in the US now provide CAM offerings in their curricula, as do several
nursing and public health programs. One challenge with the existing
CAM education infrastructure, however, is that the integration of CAM
occurs primarily at the graduate and post-graduate levels. This may
ultimately provide insufficient exposure to core philosophies, methods,
opportunities for personal practice, and source cultures. An alternate
is to deepen the educational infrastructure by integrating CAM education
into undergraduate curricula, especially in the pre-professional health
arena. To assess the utility of an undergraduate CAM/holistically-oriented
education an evaluation of a Holistic Health program was conducted.
It was hypothesized that the courses would be perceived as personally
and professionally relevant, and provide educational satisfaction.
METHODS: A 24-item survey was completed by 275
students enrolled in Holistic Health (HH) classes during the Spring
semester of 2004 (approximately 90% completion rate). The survey included
questions on participant demographics, academic and career status, attitudes
about courses, and their impact on life. RESULTS: Respondents were 25.4
years of age on average (range 18-56), female (70.8%), Caucasian (44.3%),
Asian (30.2%), Latino (12.3%), Black (3.8%), and junior or senior class
standing (90.5%). The majority defined themselves as being full-time
students (85.8%). Of those who were working, 30.5% were in a health-related
profession, and over half of the survey respondents were preparing for
a health-related profession (50.9%). The most common reasons for taking
the courses were personal development (66.9%), to fulfill General Education
requirements (65.4%), and to explore career options (39.3%). The majority
of students stated that the courses had a positive effect on their health,
including improved eating habits and stress management; effective integration
of new health skills, such as practicing meditation and imagery; and
more social awareness, such as increased tolerance of others. Students
responded to a Likert-type scale with five options (1-Very Low to 5-Very
High). Students were asked to report how much HH classes improved the
quality of their lives, compared to other classes taken in the university.
The average response was ÔHigh' (M=4.2/SD=1.0). Almost all of the respondents
believed that there should be an HH major (96.5%).
CONCLUSIONS: The evolution of a more integrative
healthcare system will require a new breed of scholar/clinician, informed
and Holistic/CAM-competent. Students found the Holistic Health curriculum
both personally and professionally meaningful. This combination of student
enthusiasm and growing consumer use of Holistic/CAM resources suggests
that a viable and socially relevant new area of undergraduate study
may be emerging. The need to examine the development of relevant university
programs merits attention.
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