Poland has a unique history of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) dating back to the 17th century when Polish missionary Michael (Michał) Boym was a pioneer in the field. In the 20th century, his successor, Professor Zbigniew Garnuszewski, reintroduced acupuncture to medical practice in Poland. However, other methods of TCM and its holistic approach to patient care have not found their place in modern medicine in Poland. At present, the legal status of TCM in Poland remains unregulated, with TCM included in the broad spectrum of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices. Few reports are available on the use of TCM methods among the Polish population. Integrative medicine combines conventional medicine with evidence-based CAM interventions and considers all aspects of a patient's health, including physical, emotional, mental, social, and environmental factors. An integrative healthcare model that incorporates TCM modalities and lifestyle recommendations as well as a whole person approach may provide a more sustainable solution for the constantly underfinanced Polish healthcare system, which faces challenges of multimorbidity in an aging society and limited access to care. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, war in Ukraine, and ongoing climate crisis have underscored the need to strengthen the resilience of the Polish healthcare system and search for new solutions. A model of care that blends the best of biomedicine and TCM healing approaches may be a better option for both patients and the healthcare system in Poland. Please cite this article as: Rybicka M, Zhao J, Piotrowicz K, Ptasnik S, Mitka K, Kocot-Kępska M, Hui KK. Promoting whole person health: Exploring the role of traditional Chinese medicine in Polish healthcare. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(6): 509-517.
Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Poland ; Holistic Health ; Complementary Therapies/psychology* ; Delivery of Health Care

Global Health ; Humans ; Medical Oncology ; methods ; organization & administration ; trends ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; Philosophy, Medical

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to establish normative data for holistic health parameters in the general Korean population and to investigate the factor associated with ideal life expectancy (ILE) among these holistic health parameters and sociodemographic variables. METHODS: This study used a questionnaire to obtain self-reported physical, mental, social, spiritual, and general health status and then evaluated their association with ILE. A total of 1,241 individuals responded to the questionnaire, from which we established a multidimensional health status reference data set representing the Korean population. To explain factors associated with ILE, we stratified results by age and gender and performed multiple logistic regression of sociodemographic variables and multidimensional health status. RESULTS: Women reported poor health status more frequently for all five health categories. The average ILE was 87.46 years versus 84.42 years of life expectancy in the general Korean population. Single marital status, higher income, and better social health were significantly associated with higher ILE. CONCLUSION: ILE could be a good indicator reflecting social wellness in a certain society. Comprehensive social health promotion programs can improve individuals' attitudes toward life expectancy, especially for vulnerable groups.
Dataset ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Holistic Health ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Expectancy ; Logistic Models ; Marital Status ; Self Report ; Socioeconomic Factors

Scientific hypotheses are essential for progress in rapidly developing academic disciplines. Proposing new ideas and hypotheses require thorough analyses of evidence-based data and predictions of the implications. One of the main concerns relates to the ethical implications of the generated hypotheses. The authors may need to outline potential benefits and limitations of their suggestions and target widely visible publication outlets to ignite discussion by experts and start testing the hypotheses. Not many publication outlets are currently welcoming hypotheses and unconventional ideas that may open gates to criticism and conservative remarks. A few scholarly journals guide the authors on how to structure hypotheses. Reflecting on general and specific issues around the subject matter is often recommended for drafting a well-structured hypothesis article. An analysis of influential hypotheses, presented in this article, particularly Strachan's hygiene hypothesis with global implications in the field of immunology and allergy, points to the need for properly interpreting and testing new suggestions. Envisaging the ethical implications of the hypotheses should be considered both by authors and journal editors during the writing and publishing process.
Allergy and Immunology ; Databases, Bibliographic ; Ethics, Research ; Hygiene Hypothesis ; Peer Review ; Publications ; Writing

The hygiene hypothesis (HH) proposed by Strachan in 1989 was expanded to explain the inverse association between the occurrence of allergy disorders and the risk of infectious diseases and parasite infestation. The microflora hypothesis (MH) suggests that gut microbial dysbiosis in early life might trigger hypersensitivity disorders. The sharing concept of both HH and MH is gene-environment interaction, which is also a key concept in epigenetics. The amalgamation of epidemiology and epigenetics has created a scientific discipline termed epigenetic epidemiology. To accomplish an era of gene-environment-wide interaction studies, it is necessary to launch a national human epigenome project.
Allergy and Immunology ; Communicable Diseases ; Dysbiosis ; Epidemiology* ; Epigenomics* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Gene-Environment Interaction ; Humans ; Hygiene Hypothesis ; Hygiene* ; Hypersensitivity ; Parasites

The Chinese philosophy of Confucianism said “What I heard I forgot, what I see, I remember, what I do, I understand.” During this time, most of the teaching and learning process relies on viewing and listening modalities only. As a result, much information does not last long in memory as well as the material understanding achieves became less deep. In studying anatomy science, drawing is one of effective important methods because it is an integration of ideas and knowledge of vision thereby increasing comprehension and learning motivation of college students. The purpose of this research is to know the musculoskeletal anatomy comprehension by drawing learning method in Medical Faculty student. This research uses observational analytic design with the cross-sectional design. Total sampling was done to the entire student of Physiotherapy Study Program in 2012, 2013, and 2014, Medical Faculty of Udayana University. The average value of musculoskeletal anatomy of the student in 2012, 2013, and 2014 sequentially are 31.67, 33.57, and 45.00, respectively. Normality test with Shapiro-Wilk and homogeneity with Levene's test showed normal results and homogeneous. One-way ANOVA test between groups showed a significant result that is 11.00 (P < 0.05). It is concluded that the drawing method can improve the musculoskeletal anatomy comprehension in Medical Faculty student.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Comprehension* ; Confucianism ; Faculty, Medical* ; Humans ; Learning ; Memory ; Methods* ; Motivation ; Philosophy

The hygiene hypothesis (HH) proposed by Strachan in 1989 was expanded to explain the inverse association between the occurrence of allergy disorders and the risk of infectious diseases and parasite infestation. The microflora hypothesis (MH) suggests that gut microbial dysbiosis in early life might trigger hypersensitivity disorders. The sharing concept of both HH and MH is gene-environment interaction, which is also a key concept in epigenetics. The amalgamation of epidemiology and epigenetics has created a scientific discipline termed epigenetic epidemiology. To accomplish an era of gene-environment-wide interaction studies, it is necessary to launch a national human epigenome project.
Allergy and Immunology ; Communicable Diseases ; Dysbiosis ; Epidemiology ; Epigenomics ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Gene-Environment Interaction ; Humans ; Hygiene Hypothesis ; Hygiene ; Hypersensitivity ; Parasites

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of the meaning in life for elementary school students. METHODS: The conceptual framework was based on the five main concepts (meaning in life, creativity, experiences, attitudes, choice and responsibility) of logotherapy. Data from 1,600 higher grade elementary school students were analyzed for content of meaning in life. RESULTS: The experiences of meaning in life were identified as follows: Important things in my life (people close to me, things that brings me happiness, to live in earnest, surrounding environment), Activities I like to do (relaxing, achievements, family relationships), Experiences that made me feel like I am loved (taken care of by family, material recompense, being respected), Times when I feel grateful (receive love and care, health), Importance of choices (consequences of bad choices, result of good life choices). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that elementary school students can understand meaningcentered health education and this kind of education is necessary to promote their wholistic health.
Creativity ; Education ; Happiness ; Health Education ; Holistic Health ; Humans ; Love ; Psychotherapy*

In the past 30 years, medical ethics education has emerged as a high-priority subject in Korea. This article provides a general overview of medical ethics education in the medical school curriculum. The author supports the idea that the goal of medical ethics education should be to equip physicians with a knowledge base for analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas as a core element of the profession. The core elements already have been delineated by the textbook of medical ethics that is in use, and can be applied in contexts including theoretical work, specific areas of application, and problematic clinical cases. This field requires a multidisciplinary approach and should be integrated throughout the entire curriculum of medical school. Ethical theory and knowledge-based approaches should be studied as a basic course, and case studies and ethical debates should incorporated into applied clinical training courses. The grade system is suitable for the knowledge-based approach, while pass-fail evaluations are suitable for small-group discussions of case studies. A team-based approach including both ethicists specializing in philosophy and physicians would be helpful in teaching medical ethics. Progress in ethics education may depend on medical schools to invest in faculty development and to allocate resources accordingly. Ethics education should be treated as a course in professionalism, and should also be incorporated into continuing medical education programs after graduation from medical school.
Curriculum* ; Education* ; Education, Medical, Continuing ; Ethical Theory ; Ethicists ; Ethics ; Ethics, Medical* ; Humans ; Knowledge Bases ; Korea ; Philosophy ; Professionalism ; Schools, Medical*

There have been many achievements for 40 years since the introduction of compulsory health insurance. Despite many achievements, it has many challenges in health insurance. Aging, non-communicable disease, and low growth economy are threatening the sustainability of health insurance, and it is time to reform the health insurance. A long-term reform plan will be an absolute necessity for reform of health insurance and health care system. Health insurance and health care reform should be an extremely revolutionary content that completely changes the framework. This reform should deal with the philosophy of health, approach of medical education and doctor training, changing supply of medical service, the innovation of primary medical care, reform of public health system, the management of medical utilization, the integration of medical cure and care services, enhancing the benefit coverage, prohibition of covered and non-covered services, etc. Therefore, it is urgent to form a consensus on the necessity of reform, to establish the health insurance plan on this consensus, and to make efforts to make health insurance sustainable.
Aging ; Anniversaries and Special Events* ; Consensus ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education, Medical ; Health Care Reform ; Insurance, Health* ; Philosophy ; Public Health