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A Nurse’s Outstanding Contribution to Complementary Medicine

A Nurse’s Outstanding Contribution to Complementary Medicine

Yin Yang Skincare is delighted to announce that it is awarding Denise Rankin-Box a complementary set of Yin Yang Skincare products in celebration of her receipt of the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Complementary Medicine’ 2010 Award, from the Institute for Complementary and Natural Medicine.

Trained nurse, Denise Rankin-Box has been actively involved in pushing back the frontiers of Complementary medicine in the UK, Europe and in America for over 27 years, including assisting in the design of the first University validated, Integrated Diploma in complementary & alternative medicine (CAM) in the UK. For the last 17 years, Denise has been Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, and an international double blind peer review journal published by Elsevier. The journal draws an international readership and contributing authors from around the world.

Research Evidence for CAM Claims

Her first book written for health care professionals was published in 1987 and this was the first of its’ kind, to focus upon research evidence supporting the therapeutic claims of complementary medicine within health care practice   in the UK.  She has since written widely and contributed to medical and nursing dictionaries providing definitions of CAM terminology. In November 2007, she completed her 5th text: Complementary Medicine: A Guide for Pharmacists; a handbook for use by high street pharmacists. She has presented nationally and internationally on CAM research, integration into healthcare practice and the management of change.

Consumer Safe Guards

Denise was the first Chair of the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) Complementary Therapies in Nursing” Forum for the first 6 years of its development and established a national nursing RCN CAM nursing network. In 1998 she was directly involved in the design of the first RCN consumer guide for the general public advising upon key questions general consumers should ask a CAM practitioner in order to ensure they receive competent and safe care. This information leaflet continues to be published.

Integrated Medicine

 In recognition of her work in bringing the benefits of CAM to conventional healthcare, Denise was invited and joined, the initial working parties into CAM and the Way Forward, initiated by HRH Prince of Wales Foundation for Integrated Medicine. She has run private and NHS based clinics employing Complementary Medicine for the management of stress and stress related illnesses.

Additionally Denise has been a Trustee and Deputy-Chair of the British Holistic Medical Association (BHMA), and an External Examiner for undergraduate and post graduate degrees. She is Nursing Adviser and Honorary Member for many complementary therapy organisations in the UK.

CAM In Perspective

 
Data collected at the beginning of this decade suggest that in the UK about 22 million visits a year are made to practitioners of acupuncture, chiropractic, homoeopathy, hypnotherapy, herbal medicine and osteopathy each year (Thomas et al, 2001; Fox, 2001). This figure excludes therapies such as reflexology, massage, nutritional therapy and therapeutic touch. To put this into perspective, Thomas et al (2001) report that there were 14 million visits to A&E during the same period. Fox (2001) says that more than 90% of visits to complementary practitioners - costing a total of about £450m - are purchased privately. In the USA a total of about $15bn is spent on complementary therapies every year, with about one in four of the population being treated with some form of complementary therapy (Eisenberg et al, 1993).

YY Skincare Holistic Approach To Skin Health

YY Skincare’s holistic approach to skin health, with its emphasis on working with gentle effective botanical ingredients to support the skin’s bio-chemistry of constant renewal and self defence, borrows from the science and traditional wisdom of experts in herbal medicine. We strongly support the work of Denise Rankin-Box in making the skills of the CAM sector more understandable to practitioners of conventional health therapies.