The Integrative Health Movement: How We Got Here, Where Are We Going

How we view our history shapes our identity. Over the past 50 years, many strains of activity across multiple healthcare stakeholders have converged and, at times, been consciously braided together to produce what many of like to call a “movement” for integrative health and medicine. Long-timers in the field concurrently express awe for how far we have come and exasperation that we have accomplished so little. In this session, we will examine the evolving landscape. We will look at examples of impactful organizing for change from members of diverse professions who are positively influencing the medical industry’s trajectory toward health. Is this a movement? If so, what are next steps? Might the “non-pharma first” message of the crisis in pain treatment leverage a shift in the nation’s therapeutic order for multiple conditions? Are new allies emerging? This session concludes with a look at openings and minefields for the movement in the emerging terrain. How we shape our history shapes our identity.