(ISSN 2573-4393)
OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine is an international peer-reviewed Open Access journal published quarterly online by LIDSEN Publishing Inc. It covers all evidence-based scientific studies on integrative, alternative and complementary approaches to improving health and wellness.
Topics contain but are not limited to:
The journal publishes a variety of article types: Original Research, Review, Communication, Opinion, Comment, Conference Report, Technical Note, Book Review, etc.
There is no restriction on paper length, provided that the text is concise and comprehensive. Authors should present their results in as much detail as possible, as reviewers are encouraged to emphasize scientific rigor and reproducibility.
Publication Speed (median values for papers published in 2023): Submission to First Decision: 5.9 weeks; Submission to Acceptance: 14.7 weeks; Acceptance to Publication: 8 days (1-2 days of FREE language polishing included)
Special Issue
Integrative Therapies in Palliative Care
Submission Deadline: September 30, 2020 (Closed) Submit Now
Guest Editor
Leila Kozak, PhD
1. Director, Integrative Palliative Care Institute (IPCI), Redmond, WA, USA
2. Co- Principal Investigator, Integrative Palliative Care Continuing Education Project- R41 NIH/NCI, USA
3. Whole Health National Champion, Office of Patient-Centered Care & Cultural Transformation/Integrative Health Coordinating Center, VA Central Office, USA
4. Affiliate Professor, Family Medicine, UW School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
5. Adjunct Faculty, Saybrook University, College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences, CA, USA
About This Topic
The field of Palliative Care has been growing exponentially during the last 30 years. The term “palliative” refers to interventions that focus on managing symptoms and decreasing suffering when curing the underlying disease may not be possible. While many people still associate the term “palliative care” with “end of life care,” the scope of palliative care includes supportive care interventions for symptom management and psycho-social-spiritual support at all stages of disease progression – from early diagnosis to end of life.
Randomized controlled trials have shown that providing palliative care from the time of diagnosis may greatly affect patient’s quality of life and, for some people, even improve life expectancy. The growing utilization of evidence-based integrative therapies in oncology and palliative care speaks about a paradigm shift in which we highlight the importance of non-pharmacological modalities, particularly in addressing side effects from conventional treatments and in providing comfort, relaxation and psycho-social-spiritual support.
Integrative Palliative Care (IPC) is an emerging field in medicine that involves the use of evidence-based conventional and complementary approaches together to provide care for people facing life-limiting illnesses or approaching the end of life. IPC addresses the whole person as a multidimensional being - caring for the body, mind, spirit and relationships.
This special issue will focus on the utilization of integrative therapies as supportive care in palliative care environments. We are seeking publications that address integrative approaches in different populations such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, heart failure and COPD. We would like to emphasize the broader meaning of palliative care as supportive care, and therefore, we are also interested in publications addressing conditions such as arthritis and other chronic incurable conditions, which affect large numbers of people and can benefit profoundly from integrative approaches.
Therapies of interest include acupuncture and related modalities, massage, biofield therapies (such as healing touch, therapeutic touch, reiki), expressive art therapies (music, graphic arts, narrative medicine), mind-body and contemplative therapies (such as meditation, guided imagery and hypnosis), mindful-based movement therapies (such as tai chi/qigong and yoga) and aromatherapy.
Palliative care environments of interest include from integrative oncology outpatient and inpatient settings, to rehabilitation in neurodegenerative and vascular diseases, to geriatric and nursing home environments.
Related topics of interest include enhancing the patient experience, creating optimal healing environments, patient-centered and relationship-centered care, consciousness and spirituality, integrative oncology interventions, integrative therapies in geriatrics, integrative therapies for family caregiver support and programs that teach integrative interventions to family caregivers. Other relevant topics will be also considered.
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted through the LIDSEN Submission System. Detailed information on manuscript preparation and submission is available in the Instructions for Authors. All submitted articles will be thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process and will be processed following the Editorial Process and Quality Control policy. Upon acceptance, the article will be immediately published in a regular issue of the journal and will be listed together on the special issue website, with a label that the article belongs to the Special Issue. LIDSEN distributes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License in an open-access model. The authors own the copyright to the article, and the article can be free to access, distribute, and reuse provided that the original work is correctly cited.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). Research articles and review articles are highly invited. Authors are encouraged to send the tentative title and abstract of the planned paper to the Editorial Office (icm@lidsen.com) for record. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Editorial Office.
Welcome your submission!
Publication
Addressing Symptom Clusters with Complementary and Integrative Health Therapies in Palliative Care Populations: A Narrative ReviewAbstract Both palliative care (PC) and integrative medicine (IM) focus on the whole person to optimize wellbeing. Integrative palliative care combines the best of both approaches in relieving the distressing symptoms of serious illness and its treatment by combining evidence informed, pharmacological and nonpharmacological modalities that are aligned [...] |
Development of a Pediatric Integrative Oncology Program: Pearls, Barriers, and Future Directionsby
Allison Ast
,
Margaret Meyer
,
R. Elyse Heidelberg
,
Jennifer M. Allen
,
Amy Ly
and
Holly Spraker-Perlman
Abstract Children with cancer can experience intense suffering. Currently, despite our best efforts, symptoms associated with both cancer and its treatment result in physical, psychological, and emotional discomfort that can be difficult to manage with traditional Western medicine alone. Developing integrative services within a pediatric hematolog [...] |
Comparing the Perspectives of Professionals and Relatives Toward the Quality of Palliative Care: A Qualitative StudyAbstract High-quality care is an important aim of palliative care services. However, the quality of care is a complex phenomenon and is subjectively perceived by those who are closest to the services and are often evaluated poorly. Prior research has highlighted the difficulties in evaluating the quality of care because of different perspec [...] |
Cognitive Impairment, Meditative Movement, and Gene Expression in Breast Cancer Survivorsby
Francisco V. Munoz
and
Linda Larkey
Abstract Breast cancer survivors (BCSs) report decrements in cognitive functioning. A Meditative Movement (MM) program (Qigong/Tai Chi Easy) combines meditation and exercise, practices known to improve cognitive function. Method: Using a single group, pre- to post-intervention assessment design, a pilot study was conducted in BCSs to test the effects [...] |
Child Life Specialists in Pediatric Hospital Careby
Kokila Jeyamurugan
and
Ratna B Basak
Abstract Child life specialists (CLS) are trained providers who form part of a pediatric multidisciplinary and pediatric palliative care team. Their role is invaluable to mitigate the stress and anxiety of children during hospitalization. They may use various strategies in children like play, art and music therapy and pet therapy, to help self-express [...] |
Effectiveness of Aromatherapy in Alleviating Palliative Symptoms and Its Possible Side Effects: A Literature ReviewAbstract Palliative care is a steadily growing component of medicine that focuses on treating individuals with life-limiting diseases such as cancer. It aims at improving the quality of life and alleviating cancer-related symptoms, including anxiety, pain, dyspnea, cough, nausea/vomiting, and constipation, which could result in significant physical [...] |
Religious, and Ethno-Cultural Competence in Palliative and End-of-Life CareAbstract Cultural and religious competence is an essential component of palliative and end-of-life care. Because religious, ethnic and racial groups often differ in their values and preferences, including their attitudes toward palliative and end-of-life care, clinicians must maintain an open and respectful attitude toward these [...] |
Stakeholder Perceptions of Dignity Therapy for Children and Young People with Life-Limiting and Life-Threatening Conditions in the UKAbstract In palliative and end of life care settings supporting people to make sense of their lives is as important as managing disease symptoms. Dignity Therapy is a validated psychotherapeutic intervention designed to bring about a sense of meaning and purpose for individuals at the end of life. Dignity Therapy has primarily been implemented and [...] |
Therapeutic Effects: The Integration of Creative Arts Therapy in Palliative Careby
Jean Youngwerth
,
Heather Coats
,
Amy Jones
,
Angela Wibben
,
Elizabeth Somes
,
Sue Felton
,
Ashley Anderson
,
Kathleen Flarity
,
Kellar Elliot
and
Jean Kutner
Abstract The University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) implemented a Creative Arts Therapy (CAT) program offering CAT to hospitalized patients as a component of comprehensive palliative care (PC) services. The objective of this pilot program evaluation study was to evaluate short-term effects of CAT on patient symptoms and patient/family perceptions regard [...] |
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Vidhi is a Clinical yoga therapist; mentor for yoga therapy training in Krishnamacharya tradition. She holds a MSc in Public health from Kings College London.
Mirela Olympia Fagarasan Palmer
Luigi Fontana, MD, PhD.jpg)
Zhong-Ting (Justin) is a PhD student from Nanyang Technological University (Singapore). He holds BSc in Applied Chemistry and MSc in Environmental Engineering. He was a R&D researcher of NanoMaterials Technology Pte Ltd in Singapore (2006-2012). His current research interests are functional nanomaterials synthesis & design, and their application into environmental/chemical engineering. He has published near 60 SCI papers in Applied Catalysis B, Chemical Engineering Journal and so on with H-Index 23. He also serviced as reviewers over 40 Journals such as Appl. Catal. B, Water Research, Chem. Eng. J, ACS Applied Materials & Interface, etc. He was honored such as “The Bsic Research Achievment 1st Award of CIESC”, “The ZJUT Fund Breeding Distinguished Young Scholars” etc.
Rolf Teschke studied Medicine in Munich and Marburg, where he finished his MD thesis before starting a residency at the Department of Pathology, University of Marburg. Subsequently and with a fellowship of the Deutsche Forschungsgmeinschaft, he worked at the Bronx VA Hospital/Mount Sinai Hospital in New York during 1972–1975 together with Professor Charles S. Lieber and successfully isolated MEOS and expanded its characterization. Back in Germany, he was at the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf with a focus on alcoholic liver disease, biochemical drug studies, and clinical intoxications by halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons, where he became a Professor of Medicine. In 1987, he was offered a chief position and appointed as Director of the Medical Department II, City Hospital Hanau, Teaching Hospital of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt/Main. His clinical and research interests are on liver injury by drugs and herbs including causality assessment by RUCAM in close association with Dr. Gaby Danan in Paris. A perfect cooperation exists also with Professor Tran Dang Xuan of the University of Hiroshima, Japan. Finally, he is the author of more than 275 publications including books and book chapters, and he is editor in chief of scientific journals and member of editorial boards.