1.1.3 Time The recommended duration of an aerobic exercise session is dependent on several factors, such as the participant’s goals and fitness levels, and the intensity of exercise. Obviously, the higher the intensity of the exercise, the shorter will be its duration. As a general guide the ACSM recommends between twenty and sixty minutes of aerobic exercise, which can be undertaken either continuously – i.e. all at once – or intermittently – i.e. in shorter bouts accumulated during the day (AC
References
3.18 Key ethical issues for CAM practitioners: maintain professional boundaries All practitioners have a duty to create and maintain safe boundaries, irrespective of their therapeutic orientation, training or individual way of practising. The therapeutic relationship is based on trust and practitioners must never exploit users for their own ends. Practitioners should be aware that they may be working with users who have difficulty respecting boundaries, whether emotional, sexual or financial. Practitioners also need to be very clear about making their own boundaries expl
3.6 Ethical practice and accountability: the role and function of professional bodies The UK's medical profession is regulated by the General Medical Council (GMC). One of the main ways in which the GMC, and other regulatory bodies, influences its members is through its code of ethics. This sets out broad principles, rather than detailed guidance, for how practitioners should behave in specific circumstances. This is necessary because a practitioner retains individual accountability and ultimate responsibility for decisions taken during professional practice. Not all br
2.12 The future of the therapeutic relationship As discussed earlier in this extract, therapeutic relationships are subject to constant review and reinterpretation. As the culture changed, the predominant shift in health care was away from paternalistic forms of relationships based on professional expertise towards partnership models in which the patient has more rights but also more responsibilities. This final section looks to the future and considers some of the factors that can impact on therapeutic relationships in CAM.
2.11 The failure of CAM therapeutic relationships: complaints The issue of complaints is uncomfortable for any health practitioner. CAM practitioners may be particularly reluctant to accept that their actions may give rise to complaints. Since many therapists do not perceive their therapy to be intrinsically harmful, they are unlikely to make provision for when it goes wrong. Moreover, the comparative absence of litigation against CAM practitioners may give a false sense of security, whereby therapists do not consider themselves above the law but see th
2.6 The failure of CAM therapeutic relationships Although therapeutic relationships have the capacity to heal, they can also harm. In reality, the outcome of most therapeutic encounters and relationships lies somewhere on a continuum between good and harm. Few therapeutic relationships are a complete success but, judging by the number of complaints, even fewer are a complete disaster. Studies of therapeutic encounters invariably show high levels of patient satisfaction (see, for example, Sharma, 1992; Kelner et al., 2000). None the less, it
1.9 Models of health care delivery: alternative or holistic models Many CAM modalities have grown from a wide range of concepts of the body and health and healing that differ from the models discussed so far. As Fulder notes: The body, in Chinese medicine, is energetic. In yoga and healing, the body is spiritual. In modern (conventional) medicine, the body is physicochemical. In homeopathy, it is phenomenological. In naturopathy it is vital, etc. All of these conceptions do not necess 1.7 Models of health care delivery: the biopsychosocial model Read the following description of the biopsychosocial model and make notes on the positive and negative implications for lay us 1.5 Models of health care delivery In the quest to understand health and illness behaviour, social and medical researchers have developed various models to explain the different forms of health care delivery. These models emerged because, in the mid-20th century, social researchers began to question not only the position of professions in western countries but also the relationship between professionals and users. Early explorations of the patient's role in health care suggested that it was fairly prescribed (Parsons, 1951), a Introduction The stresses of modern living take their toll in terms of our health. This unit is formed from three extracts. The first extract is called ‘Understanding why people use complementary and alternative medicine'. This part discusses: the meaning of health, its origins in terms of components and beliefs. Also models of health care delivery are discussed together with concepts and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine. Extract two 'Critical issues in the therapeutic relationship' 1.4.8 Summary In this section we have introduced you to the PROMPT checklist as a useful tool for assessing the quality of any piece of information. If you use it regularly you will find that you develop the ability to scan information quickly and identify strengths and weaknesses. As a closing exercise you might like to pick one of these websites: 1.4.5 M is for Method Method is about the way in which a piece of information is produced. This is quite a complex area as different types of information are produced in different ways. These are a few suggestions to look out for:
Opinions – A lot of information is based on the opinion of individuals. They may or not be experts in their field (see P for Provenance) but the key message is to be clear that it is just an opinion and must be valued as such.
Research – You don’t have t 1.3.11 Choosing the right tool for the job Before searching it is always a good idea to check what the source you have chosen covers to make sure it will unearth information that matches your search need (you will notice that all the resources we’ve covered in this guide have short descriptions to enable you to decide which to use). Some of the decision makers, depending on the context of your search might be: Does it have full text? Does it cover the right subject? 1.3.4 Databases At a basic level, a database is a collection of information which can be searched. It is a way of storing, indexing, organising and retrieving information. You may have created one yourself to keep track of your references – or your friends' names and addresses. They are useful for finding articles on a topic, and can be used to search for many different types of information. You may find some of the following databases useful for your topic. They contain different types of informati 1.3.1 Introduction You can find a lot of information about health and lifestyle on the internet. To find this information you might choose to use: search engines and subject gateways; books and electronic books; databases; journals; encyclopedias statistics internet resources. 1.1.1 Assessing your current level of knowledge
If you explore all the resources and activities in this unit, you might need to allow between two and nine hours to complete it.
Before you read this guide, why not use the self-assessment questions on the next screen to rate your current level of knowledge? Print or save these questions and for each question, mark the most appropriate number on the scale. When you have finished, you can review your answers. A score of three of less might indicate a gap in your knowledge 1.6 Valuing diversity Social workers need to recognise diversity: valuing and respecting service users – irrespective of, for example, their ethnicity, gender or age – is central to good practice. It is also about working in a way that counters the unfair or unequal treatment of individuals or groups on the basis of their race, gender, class, age, culture, religion, sexuality or ability. There is a growing body of law that seeks to prohibit and punish a range of discriminatory behaviours in various kinds of so 1.2 Partnership This can be defined as including service users, and their advocates and carers, and other interested parties, as far as possible in the decision-making processes that affect their lives. In other words, work with service users should be based on their meaningful participation in decision making. Good practice demands that work takes place on the basis of partnership. Sometimes there can be a legal requirement to work in partnership with service users (for example, working with the parents of References
Activity 4: The biopsychosocial model
