Complementary and Integrative Health (CIH) is an important element of an integrative approach to care. 

Key Points

1.     CIH can come up in a number of ways during an Integrative Health visit.  As a care team member, you may wish to suggest certain approaches, and at other times you may be advising against them.  The key, regardless of your opinion on a given approach, is that you can have a helpful conversation about them with your patients.

2.     Keep the EASY criteria (Effects, Accessibility, Safety, You) in mind as you discuss CIH with patients.

3.     Always remember to ask people where they are getting their information about CIH.  Become more familiar with those sources of information yourself.  In addition, ask your colleagues where they get their information about CIH as well.

4.     Know who offers CIH at your facility and in your community.  Learn more about their qualifications and skill sets.  Firsthand experience is always best, so it may be worth arranging to interview or have a visit with them yourself.

5.     There are reputable online resources for many CIH resources, such as mindfulness and tai chi.  

Introduction

Even though CIH approaches are receiving more attention and gaining in popularity, most clinicians have limited training about how to incorporate them into practice.  This overview is designed to provide some guidance with that.  It features three patient narratives, each designed around common scenarios you may encounter when exploring how CIH might fit into a person’s Integrative Health Plan.  These three patients, who are progressively more complex include:

1. Lee, a healthy 34-year-old body builder who wants to optimize his self-care practices and prevent future health issues. 
2. Frederick, a 56-year-old gardener with a number of chronic problems.  He is a big fan of supplements and wants advice about them.