Why choose us for your family’s primary care clinic?
Every family needs access to a caring and knowledgeable primary care provider, which is increasingly difficult to find in our healthcare system these days. But health is also much more than what typically gets addressed in a doctor’s office—it’s the foods you eat, the quality of your relationships, and the ways you work, rest, and play. A family clinic shouldn’t just be somewhere to get prescriptions when you’re sick (we do that too), but a place that recognizes and supports the combination of factors that define health for your family.
According to the 2012 National Health Interviews Survey, 67% of individuals who visited naturopathic doctors (ND) were motivated to make one or more behavioral changes for their health, including smoking cessation, reducing alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity, and eating organic foods [1,2]. Clinical nutrition and lifestyle modification are significant components of naturopathic medical education. We spend time with patients to discuss evidence-based and pragmatic self-care therapies in addition to standard medical care. The American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association’s (ACC/AHA) guideline on the prevention of cardiovascular disease and the 2020 United States Preventive Services Task Force recommend physician-directed promotion of healthy diet and physical activity, as well as non-pharmacological options to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease [3,4]. That’s exactly what you’ll find here—we always address health and disease from a Whole Person perspective.
The experiences of prolonged stress, isolation, financial insecurities, and grief affected most of us throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Even prior to the pandemic, a nationwide health study in 2018 resulted in an urgent call for improved quality of mental health and the prevention of mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, which are now among the leading causes of disability and decreased quality of life [5]. Naturopathic medicine recognizes the interconnectedness of our body systems and our minds, so mental and physical complaints are routinely addressed together. Our doctors routinely consider and discuss dietary, behavioral, physical, psycho-emotional contributors to health all at once [6,7]. For example, this multi-system approach is crucial in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, which is now known to be a disorder of the connection between the gut and the central nervous system. For patients with mental health challenges, we often initiate some counseling and discussion of mind-body therapies (e.g., mindfulness-based stress reduction, meditation) and make referrals to behavioral health or psychology.
Even the American Heart Association acknowledges that psychological health is still largely overlooked in the conventional model of care and is major contributor to lifelong health [8]. Positive psychological health is associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular disease and greater healthy behaviors such as nutritious eating and more frequent exercise, which also reduce your risk for cancer and other serious diseases. As practitioners trained in both medical and mind-body therapies, our NDs are uniquely equipped to deliver primary care that simultaneously addresses mental and physical health—and we do it for patients throughout the lifespan, from babies to the elderly.
If you have been wanting to get more value and support from your family’s primary care provider, give us a call.
- Bishop FL, Lauche R, Cramer H, et al. Health behavior change and complementary medicine use: national health interview survey 2012. Medicina. 2019;55(10).
- Oberg EB, Bradley R, Hsu C, et al. Patient-reported experiences with first-time naturopathic care for type 2 diabetes. PLoS One 2012, 7, e48549.
- Arnett DK, Blumenthal RS, Albert MA, et al. 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/ American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2019;140(11):e596-e646. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000678.
- US Preventive Services Task Force, Krist AH, Davidson KW, et al. Behavioral Counseling Interventions to Promote a Healthy Diet and Physical Activity for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Adults With Cardiovascular Risk Factors: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. JAMA. 2020;324(20):2069-2075.
- US Burden of Disease Collaborators. The State of US Health, 1990-2016: Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Among US States. JAMA. 2018;319(14):1444-1472.
- Goldenberg JZ, Ward L, Day A, Cooley K. Naturopathic Approaches to Irritable Bowel Syndrome-A Delphi Study. J Alternative Compl Med. 2019;25(2):227-233.
- Steel A, Goldenberg JZ, Hawrelak JA, Foley H, Gerontakos S, Harnett JE, et al. Integrative physiology and traditional naturopathic practice: Results of an international observational study. Integrative medicine research. 2020;9(4):100424.
- Levine GN, Cohen BE, Commodore-Mensah Y, et al. Psychological Health, Well-Being, and the Mind-Heart-Body Connection: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2021;143(10):e763-e783. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000947. Epub 2021 Jan 25. PMID:33486973.
