Gabrielle Duplissis
Research Mentor: Dr. Nikhil Parekh
Mentor Department: Wayne State University, NonUM
Author(s): Not Available
Session: Session 5 (2:00 PM – 2:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 5
Abstract
Integrative Medicine is a healing-focused approach to medicine that combines medical treatments with specific lifestyle changes to support healing of the mind, body, and spirit. Researching integrative medical practices is important to measure and find alternative ways to reduce stress in individuals and to expose individuals to preventative medicine that may help to reduce future health issues. Pursuing research focused on integrative medicine in college students helps to understand how these practices may affect college-aged students in reducing stress and pain relief, since most of the research previously conducted has focused on older age groups. Our group of student researchers is studying integrative medical practices to examine whether these practices can promote health across all aspects of respondents’ lives and whether these individuals incorporate them into their lives. We are also exploring whether incorporating integrative medicine can help to alleviate pain in patients struggling with chronic illness. Our group of twenty student researchers developed research questions, assembled those questions into a single survey in Qualtrics, tested that survey for feedback, and created a final survey to be sent out. Using random sampling, the survey was sent out to 150 individuals to determine how often respondents use these practices, if applicable, and whether they have felt that the practices they are familiar with help reduce their pain after incorporating integrative medicine, such as acupuncture or yoga. The age of respondents ranged from 18 to 64 years old. Basic data has been available in Qualtrics, and the data was cleaned and further statistically analyzed in RStudio. The final sample size consisted of 77 responses. Using RStudio, a chi-squared test was performed on each question in the survey to determine if the data could be considered statistically significant. For example, from question 17 in our survey, a question regarding students’ main concern regarding Ayurvedic treatments, obtained a p-value of 0.001372, concluding that the data collected from this question was considered statistically significant. The study allowed us to see if respondents are interested in learning more about integrative medicine, and if they want to learn more about integrating these practices into their own lives. To continue supporting students’ whole health and provide additional resources on integrative medicine, I have created a website with resources for students interested in getting involved in integrative medicine in the Ann Arbor community. While respondents may experience slight physical discomfort when incorporating practices such as acupuncture or stretching into their lives, further implications of this study are still being explored as the data continues to be examined.
