Esther Yunning Pan
Research Mentor: Dr. Nikhil Parekh
Mentor Department: Wayne State University, NonUM
Author(s): Esther Pan, Nikhil Parekh
Session: Session 5 (2:00 PM – 2:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 31
Abstract
Integrative medicine is a holistic approach to medical care that includes areas such as meditation, tai chi, and yoga. It focuses on physical, mental and spiritual health alongside allopathic forms of medical care that are focused on disease and treatment through medications. This project aimed to examine the general public’s understanding of and attitudes towards integrative medicine to identify opportunities to utilize integrative medicine in healthcare. A survey was developed to assess respondents’ understanding of integrative medicine, their own wellness, and their attitudes towards specific integrative medicine methods such as Traditional Chinese Medicine. The survey was sent to a test group who provided feedback, then revised and finalized in Qualtrics. A link to the survey was made available and shared widely and randomly. Data was cleaned in RStudio, which left 78 responses, and they were analyzed in RStudio using t-tests to compare means across demographics and modalities. No statistically significant differences were found between Asian/Asian American and White/European respondents regarding the perceived effectiveness of TCM (p = 0.5467) or the impact of celebrity influence (p = 0.4786). However, there was a significant hierarchy of preference among TCM modalities. Participants expressed a significantly higher willingness to utilize Tuina (mean: 3.77) and Herbal Medicine (mean: 3.69) compared to Acupuncture (mean: 3.25, p = 0.0014) or Tai Chi (mean: 2.79, p < 0.001). These findings suggest that public interest in TCM is homogenized across ethnic lines but there is favor for ‘passive’ clinical treatments over ‘active’ practices. Based on these results, a community-based implementation project was done in the form of a health and wellness forum, which aims to teach members more about wellness and lead them in integrative medicine lifestyle practices such as meditation. A follow-up survey was piloted to collect feedback and identify areas requiring further investigation, with a particular focus on the role of crafting in health and wellness.
