In the November 2015 issue of Global Advances in Health and Medicine, we published abstracts from the Annual Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US) conference held in Boston, Massachusetts, August 6-8, 2015.1 The mission of IM4US is “a collaborative, multidisciplinary group of people committed to affordable, accessible integrative health care for all.” The abstracts described a number of innovative projects, including integrating mindfulness into the patient-centered medical home in federally qualified community health centers; group visits for Spanish-speaking patients with chronic pain; complementary therapy educational institutions offering free services at community events; introducing integrative approaches into public schools; and use of web-based and smart phone technology. The mission of IM4US to make more equitable access to integrative healthcare is laudable. It begs the following question: Can integrative medicine and health have an impact on reducing health disparities?
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Robert Saper (2016) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 4 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: