Walking into the Integrative Health Department of Beebe Medical Center even smells different than any other part of the hospital. There’s not a gown or hospital bed in sight (except the one used for massage!). Soft music plays, the sound of water is flowing from the room and it is surrounded with live, green plants. In short, the décor puts patients at ease, and any anxiety they might be feeling about being in the hospital seems to lift as soon as they walk in.
“We’re here as a service to Beebe patients, to show them how they can reduce pain, anxiety or post-surgery nausea with complementary and alternative therapies,” explained Cheyenne Luzader, program coordinator for Integrative Health at Beebe Medical Center.
In 1997, a group of nurses took a class in integrative medicine and brought the idea to administration. The department was born, and Luzader, coming from a background in mental health and rehabilitation, was the perfect fit and was asked to be program coordinator.
So, for a little more than 13 years, information about the department has been included in all inpatient welcome packets, and they have been providing education and preventive wellness resources within the community to boost people’s knowledge of what they offer.
Integrative Health, as a department, exists to provide inpatients and outpatients at Beebe relief from stress, anxiety, nausea, cancer care and fibromyalgia, as well as to provide information on pain and stress management, relaxation techniques, weight management, smoking cessation, family support and education.
The services they provide to help with these goals are acupuncture, acupressure, Reiki/therapeutic touch, biofeedback, aromatherapy, guided imagery, meditation, music/art, and tai chi/qi gong. They use these therapies to complement the care patients are already receiving from their doctors.
And it’s not just patients who can benefit from the department’s services. They educate staff on integrative medicine, and offer a stress management program and a test anxiety program for Beebe School of Nursing students.
“We are here for the nursing students, and their test scores have improved because of it,” Luzader said. “We also have massage day once a month for staff, where they can come in and relax. And we have videos they can watch and help them with meditation and stress reduction. We have a biofeedback video game they can play called ‘Journey to the Wild Divine,’ and it measures your heart rate and only allows you into the fantasy city as you breathe properly. We have lots of great toys!”
According to Luzader and to Beebe’s Web site, biofeedback uses instruments to measure whether people’s physiological information, such as if their breathing and heart rate are in sync, and through it, patients learn to consciously control those bodily processes. It helps with a variety of ailments, including but not limited to stress, anxiety, migraines, sleep disorders, epilepsy and blood pressure.
Both doctors and patients alike are opening up to the idea of these alternative therapies.
“The doctors are more and more open to it. They’ve really made leaps and bounds. And the more people want our services, the more they pay attention,” said Luzader. “And we get excellent feedback from the patients. They love it. They write letters, they send donations. And even though most of the services are free of charge, they send donations because they had a great experience and want to support the department.”
All of the programs and services are free, with the exception of acupuncture and massage.
“I’ve seen a lot of great patients over the years, and I’m pleased that we have been able to help with their anxiety, and some even adopt some of the things they learn into their lifestyle. With cancer patients, especially, it helps extend their lives and makes the lives they live that much more comfortable,” stated Luzader.
“I have the neatest job” she concluded. “Nothing I do hurts. I only make people feel good.”
For more information on Beebe Medical Center’s Integrative Health Department, visit www.beebemed.org online or call (302) 645-3528.
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