Acupuncture
The ancient Chinese healing practice of acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to treat many ailments, especially pain. Today, this therapy that addresses disharmony in the body, mind, and spirit is widely practiced throughout China and is… Read more »
Acupuncture As Energy Medicine
The ancient Chinese healing practice of acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to treat many ailments, especially pain. Today, this therapy that addresses disharmony in the body, mind, and spirit is widely practiced throughout China and is… Read more »
ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is an increasingly common neurodevelopmental disorder of childhood. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. Children with ADHD have trouble paying attention, focusing,… Read more »
Aging and Disorders of Communication
Communication links all human beings together. As individuals age, their ability to perceive information through their senses is often distorted or impaired. Age-related sensory changes impact the quality of life and the quality of communication.
Alzheimer’s Disease: Mysteries and Possibilities
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a condition in which the concept of loss is central – the loss of one’s memories, independence, the ability to recognize loved ones, and the loss of dignity. Often referred to as “the long goodbye,” AD is the most common t… Read more »
Animal-Assisted Therapy
Animals have been a part of our lives as long as we have been on the planet. The health benefits of the human-animal bond are far reaching. From guide dogs, to watching fish in an aquarium, to swimming with dolphins, animals provide us with companion… Read more »
Anxiety Disorders: An Integrative Approach
Anxiety disorders are the most common, and frequently occurring, mental disorders. Anxiety is manifested by disturbances of mood, as well as of thinking, behavior, and physiological activity. The five major types of anxiety disorders include generali… Read more »
Aromatherapy: The Healing Power Of Scent
Aromatherapy is a complementary and alternative, holistic, and integrative therapy that uses essential oils to promote both physical and psychological health. It is often used in conjunction with massage, meditation, and other therapies to achieve he… Read more »
Ayurvedic Medicine: Ancient Foundations of Health Care
Ayurvedic medicine is a highly sophisticated religion, philosophy, and system of medicine that has been practiced in India for over 2,500 years. As with other forms of complementary and alternative medicine, it focuses on the whole individual and one… Read more »
Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents: An Integrative Approach
It is sometimes difficult to determine if a child or adolescent is going through a “phase” or showing signs of a more serious psychiatric challenge such as bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder causes unusual shifts in moods and energy. These shifts are… Read more »
Botanicals, Herbs, and Herbalism
While modern medicine has produced many scientific advances, one of the most important “advances” in health and medicine has been the recognition of the value of herbs and herbalism. After all, nature and plants have been an essential part of everyda… Read more »
Centenarians: Keys to Longevity
Living to be 100 years old was once considered a rare occurrence, but with advancements in medicine and lifestyle changes, living to be 100 is not so improbable today. As a group, there are more centenarians worldwide than ever before, with the large… Read more »
Characteristics of Spirituality
While theorists and researchers have yet to agree on a single, universally accepted theory or definition of spirituality, few would deny its existence or impact on health and healing. In the past, spirituality was synonymous with religion. Although s… Read more »
Childbirth And Culture – Practices, Beliefs, And Traditions
An intimate and complex experience, childbirth reflects a woman’s biology as well as the social context in which delivery takes place. The experience of every woman is unique to her and deeply personal because of the culture in which she gives birth… Read more »
Chronic Pain: An Integrative Approach to Effective Pain Management
Pain interferes with the enjoyment of life. It makes it difficult to work, socialize with friends and family, sleep, and accomplish activities of daily living. It may reduce productivity and create financial hardships in terms of lost work and high m… Read more »
Color and Health–Exploring the Connection
The use of color in healing has a long history. A fundamental aspect of environmental design, color has also been linked to physical, psychological, and social reactions in all of its uses. Color’s characteristics can influence how it is used and wha… Read more »
Creating Healing Relationships
A healing relationship involves two major elements: a relationship with the self (intrapersonal relationship) and relationships with others (interpersonal relationships). Each is critical to creating a healing environment for an organization’s staff… Read more »
Cultural Competence in Health Care
The culturally diverse health care populations in the United States provide health care professionals with tremendous opportunities to bridge cultural gaps, incorporate new treatments and disease prevention strategies into their practices, and learn… Read more »
Current Issues in Nutrition
Our diet has a profound impact on our health and well-being as well as the health of the environment, yet many of us are not aware of where our food originated or how it was produced. We eat toxic, irradiated, or genetically altered foods, and we eat… Read more »
Depression: An Integrative Approach
Depression is one of the most serious and costly health care problems facing the United States today. It is one of the most common types of mental disorders. Depression interferes with an individual’s daily life, normal functioning, and may cause emo… Read more »
Diabetes in Pregnancy
Diabetes during pregnancy can provide a special challenge to the patient and her health care providers. The effects of poorly controlled blood glucose levels can result in life-threatening effects for both the mother and the fetus. This course provid… Read more »
Ectopic Pregnancy
Ectopic pregnancies are a gynecological emergency that can seriously affect a woman’s health and fertility. However, new developments in the diagnosis and treatment of this condition have resulted in greatly improved maternal mortality and morbidity… Read more »
Effective and Empowering Communication
Communication is how people exchange information, opinions, and ideas and it links all human beings together. Intimate, complex, and necessary for our very survival, communication can profoundly affect our overall health and wellness. Today, communic… Read more »
Food and Mood: What’s the Connection?
“You are what you eat!” How often have most of us heard this phrase? While it may be a common saying, it remains a very true one for many good reasons. Food has the ability to affect our bodies and minds in profound ways. It can influence how we feel… Read more »
Foodborne Diseases
Foodborne diseases affect 10% of the world’s population every year, equivalent to millions of individuals across the globe. These diseases can cause extremely uncomfortable short-term health problems and very serious long-term health consequences, in… Read more »
Genetically Engineered (Modified) Foods – Safe Or Sinister?
Genetically engineered (“GE”) or genetically modified (“GM”) foods are foods with foreign genes (genes from other plants, animals, or substances) inserted into their genetic codes. While the debate continues, most experts agree there is no consensus… Read more »
Health Effects of Meditation
Meditation is a mind-body practice with many methods and variations that are all grounded in the silence and stillness of present-moment awareness. Evidence of meditation’s health effects has been well documented: the practice offers improvement in t… Read more »
Healthy Lifestyles: How Stress, Nutrition, Physical Activity, Substance Abuse, and Nature Affect Brain Health
Individuals’ lifestyles can have a powerful impact on the health of their body and mind. The brain is affected by virtually every aspect of their life including their levels of stress, the foods they choose to eat, the amount and type of physical act… Read more »
HIV/AIDS Education for Healthcare Professionals
Since they were first described in 1981, more than a quarter of a century ago, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remain a persistent and widespread threat to the health, well-being, and human potential o… Read more »
HIV/AIDS Education for Kentucky Health Care Professionals
Since they were first described in 1981, more than a quarter of a century ago, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remain a persistent and widespread threat to the health, well-being, and human potential o… Read more »
Holistic and Integrative Health: An Introduction
The past several decades have brought tremendous growth in the numbers of health care facilities and providers offering integrative health care training and services. Consumers in the United States use these complementary and alternative medicine (CA… Read more »
Holistic Stress Management
Stress affects each of us every day and while some of us rise to the occasion, others experience a myriad of physiological, psychological, and spiritual effects. How we cope with stress can determine the current and future state of our health and wel… Read more »
How Safe Is Your Water?
According to the World Health Organization (2008), access to safe water is essential to health and a basic human right. Yet globally, unsafe water causes millions of deaths from diarrhea, malaria, malnutrition, and drowning. The United States has one… Read more »
Humor and Health
How many times have you felt better after laughing? Humor and laughter make people feel alive and bring a unique perspective to life. They relieve stress and connect people to one another. Humor is a complex phenomenon and an essential part of human… Read more »
Hunger and Malnutrition
Almost 800 million people in the world are suffering from hunger and malnutrition. Most of these individuals live in developing countries. However, there are millions more in developed countries who go to bed each night hungry. Children are the most… Read more »
Hyperemesis Gravidarum
Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition affecting thousands of pregnant women each year. More severe than morning sickness, HG can affect every aspect of a woman’s life. With early recognition and treatment, h… Read more »
Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy
Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (previously called pregnancy-induced hypertension or PIH) are complex and serious conditions of pregnancy, which, if untreated or improperly treated, can result in maternal and fetal complications including death…. Read more »
Influenza: Symptoms, Treatment, and Prevention
Influenza (commonly called the “flu”) is a highly contagious respiratory disease that strikes all ages and can cause significant illness and death. Striking hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide every year, this disease can be prevented usin… Read more »
Integrative Therapies for Cancer Pain Management
Many advances have been made in the treatment of cancer during the last several decades and yet effective cancer pain management remains an overwhelming issue for more than 80% of patients. Today, there are numerous options for cancer pain management… Read more »
International Women’s Health – Challenges and Opportunities
While women have a longer life expectancy than men in most every country, they don’t necessarily get to enjoy healthier lives. Millions of women suffer from health issues each year throughout the world—health issues that would not affect them if they… Read more »
Intimacy, Sexuality, and Healthy Aging
Loving and being loved are essential to maintaining a positive, healthy attitude. Quality of life is often related to affection and tenderness shared with loved ones. With a healthy self-esteem and a willingness to communicate with a partner, older a… Read more »
Introduction to Gerontology
Opportunities are unlimited for the individual who knows the field of gerontology. Demographic changes and changes in health care have influenced the development of a variety of gerontologic roles. This course will provide a broad overview of the fie… Read more »
Iowa Child Abuse, Prevention, and Mandatory Reporting
Child abuse is a national and international issue that has serious long-term consequences for the child and the community. A social problem that has existed for thousands of years, child abuse in all its forms first became a topic of national interes… Read more »
Journaling: Healthy Living Through Self-Discovery
Writing has been an important part of the human experience for centuries but has only recently been recognized as a therapeutic tool for healing. Used to document personal and historical events, describe emotions and feelings, reduce stress, and expl… Read more »
Legal Issues in Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Patient use and acceptance of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies in the United States is increasing. However, many legal issues remain unresolved surrounding provider oversight, inconsistent legislative mandates regarding definiti… Read more »
Legal Issues in Healthcare
Health care professionals today are acutely aware of the need to understand the legal environment in which they practice. Ever-shrinking resources, shorter lengths of stay, high-acuity patients, availability of more complex information, diverse patie… Read more »
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Health Issues
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning individuals—often referred to under the umbrella acronym LGBTQ—are becoming more visible and acknowledged in societies both in the United States and throughout the world. Yet, because of the discri… Read more »
Light, Health, and Healing
Light has been a part of all life since the beginning of time. It plays a critical role in the health and well-being of every living thing on the planet. As humans have evolved, they have often moved away from the natural light of their ancestors and… Read more »
Manual Bodywork Healing Therapies
Touch is one of the most primal needs of any human being. Manual bodywork healing therapies address the need for human touch, enhance health, and heal the body, mind, and spirit. Health care is evolving and integrating the worlds of alternative and a… Read more »
Medication Errors
Medications promote healing, reduce suffering, and contribute to modern medical miracles. However, because thousands of new drugs have been developed recently, because the health care environment is increasingly complex, and because patients are olde… Read more »