"Living traditional healing knowledge - our cultural heritage"
Report of the two-day symposium in Unken near Salzburg, September 9 + 10, 2022.
In cooperation with the Austrian associations TEH and TEM, ANME accompanied a very intensive and successful two-day event in theory and practice.
At the Campus Oberrain in Unken, about 60 people from all health professions, as well as interested lay people, exchanged views on the topic of "Traditional European Medicine and Healing". One focus was on the difficult situation for a health profession with permission to diagnose alongside that of the physician. In contrast to Switzerland and Germany, only a medical doctor is currently allowed to do this in Austria. However, the current development in the health sector shows that, in addition to scientific and business-oriented guideline medicine, a separate field for traditional medicine and healing has emerged, which is enjoying an ever-increasing demand. Actually, it should be a matter of course to establish an umbrella profession for this field in Austria as well.
Accordingly, the topic blocks were divided according to the current situation:
Traditional healing knowledge can basically be available to anyone interested - if uncomplicated access to it is guaranteed. Inexpensive and easy to use, regionally available remedies and methods strengthen the self-determined handling of one's own health and facilitate home care and nursing. A general basic training in this area would be very desirable in the sense of self-responsible action.
Recent studies show the positive effects of such training for maintaining health, for dealing with ourselves and with nature, but also in terms of the national economy. Traditional applications can therefore be an important pillar for health in our society.
The education and transmission of this knowledge has changed a lot in the last decades. What used to be passed on orally within families or from teacher to student in direct exchange against the background of local traditions, is today further professionalized in courses and structured training.
Traditional European Healing Knowledge is excellently suited to be integrated and applied in a wide variety of health professions. Based on a holistic view of man, it is already being used in therapy, health promotion and prevention. Synergies and cooperations between TEM/TEH practitioners, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, masseurs, midwives, etc. are emerging.
Health products, medicines, home specialties, dietary supplements, cosmetics, medical devices, natural products and food - the list of terms for products from the field of TEM/TEH is long and confusing. Traditionally summarized under the term "medicinal products", they were divided into these different categories by the legislator at the end of the 20th century and provided with special conditions. This resulted, for example, in the field of medicinal plants, in a scientifically justified but efficacy-limiting development for further application: rational herbal-pharmaceuticals are oriented exclusively to one ingredient, one lead substance, which is evaluated according to an evidence-based study design. Traditional herbal medicine evaluates and processes medicinal plants under completely different aspects, which are usually not legally recognized due to a lack of corresponding scientific traceability.
Scientific research into methods and remedies that serve to get healthy and stay healthy ideally leads to their recognition. Scientific proofs of effectiveness are regarded as strict guardians of the fundamental access to health care. If accepted, they can also enhance the value of home remedies and thus enable users to work in a legally approved manner for the benefit of their clients under the protection of science. After all, what conforms to the rules of evidence-based medicine also becomes more true, so to speak. But is the production of evidence according to exclusively scientific-statistical rules really suitable to make the effects of traditional healing methods with their individual approaches comprehensible?
A special highlight besides the event was the “open day” at TEH-naturwerke! There, valuable natural products are produced and marketed together with local suppliers. This made the importance of a living cultural heritage very clear!
More under: TEH-naturwerke/TEH-akademie / Traditional European Healing, https://www.teh.at/
More under: Professional Association for Traditional European Medicine, https://www.tem-fachverein.com/
