Measuring Integrative Influence: Two Glasses-One Half Full, One Needing to Be Filled Up

John Weeks

Reflecting on the history of the natural health and functional and integrative medicine movements over the past 30 years stimulates two polar emotions. The first is a satisfying astonishment with the surprising uptake of integrative practices and practitioners. The context of such a response is recalling the scrambling in the 1980s to lay institutional and organizational foundations for natural and integrative health amidst the medical cold war between biomedicine and those making alternative choices. We've come a long way. The other response is utter dismay that we have accomplished so little in our efforts to shift toward a system that focuses on creating health within a medical industry that consumes an ever-larger portion of the public good from producing voluminous services to manage disease. Have we had any impact?

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