Fax +49 761 4 52 07 14 Information@Karger.com www.karger.com Accessible online at: www.karger.com/cmr Complement Med Res 2017;24(suppl 1):10–21 DOI: 10.1159/000460277 Person-Centeredness in Integrative Health Care and Integrative Medical Education Michael Thiel a,b,c Alfred Längler c,d,e Melanie Schwermer c,e Tycho Jan Zuzak c,d,e Bettina Berger b,c,f Christiane Schwarz g Martina Schwiegershausen b,c Holger Cramer h Katja Böhm b,c Axel Föller-Mancini i Rosa Michaelis j David Martin k Peter Heusser c,l Gunver Sophia Kienle c,m Milena Mussler c,m Dieter Fuchs n Helmut Kiene c,m Christa Raak b,c Thomas Ostermann c,o Stephan Baumgartner b,c,p Friedrich Edelhäuser c,q Dirk Cysarz c,q Diethard Tauschel c,q Gabriele Lutz c,q Christian Scheffer c,q a Sana Klinikum Remscheid, Remscheid, Germany; b Chair for Theory of Medicine, Integrative and Anthroposophic Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Herdecke, Germany; c Institute for Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Herdecke, Germany; d Department for Integrative Pediatrics, Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus, Herdecke, Germany; e Professorship for Integrative Pediatrics, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Herdecke, Germany; f Forschungs- und Lehrzentrum Herdecke FLZ, Herdecke, Germany; g Department of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Applied Sciences, Fulda, Germany; h Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; i Institute of Education and Empirical Social Research, Alanus University, Alfter, Germany; j Department of Psychiatry, St. Marien-Hospital, Witten/Herdecke University, Hamm, Germany; k University Children’s Hospital, Tübingen, Germany; l Senior Professorship for Medical Anthropology, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Herdecke, Germany; m Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology, Witten/Herdecke University, Freiburg, Germany; n University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; o Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Herdecke, Germany; p Hiscia Institute, Society for Cancer Research, Arlesheim, Switzerland; q Integrated Curriculum for Anthroposophic Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, Herdecke, Germany Any neonatologist acting conscientiously has an integrative and holistic view in a wider sense anyway. This is based on the aware- ness that the first days or weeks of life are critical for the further development of the infants – and thus for their whole lives. All this is part of the training for pediatricians and especially for neonatologists. Hence, an interdisciplinary cooperation of doctors, nursing staff, physiotherapists, and hospital chaplains is part of pediatri- cians’ and neonatologists’ daily business. But even if it is only a small and almost natural step for the neonatologist to involve ther- apists and staff from various disciplines, this kind of multidiscipli- nary teamwork is in fact of great significance for premature infants and their parents. These activities are completed by the support of- fered to parents, not only by listening and responding to their emotions and fears, but also by providing psychological, psycho- therapeutic, or pastoral aid when required. Particularly, the different standard values, such as the pH value or the blood oxygen level, have increasingly triggered the use of Integrative Neonatology: A Perfect Example for Integrative Medicine Author: Michael Thiel Neonatology is a subdiscipline of pediatrics on the treatment of premature infants and ill neonates. Beyond that, it is also a disci- pline that involves the unique balancing of softly supporting the infant as much as possible relying on its individual resources, while at the same time acting very quickly and sometimes even aggres- sively if required. At first sight, neonatology might seem unsuitable for integrative methods. Looking closer, it becomes obvious that it is very applicable. In fact, in this patient group, needs, opportuni- ties, and maybe also limits of integrative care and a person-cen- tered approach can be shown very well. It is well known and commonly accepted that children are not just little adults. We should keep in mind, however, that newborns are often not even just little children. Published online: April 28, 2017 © 2017 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg