Dr. Christopher Breuleux, founder and president of the Medical Wellness Association, discusses his motivation for founding MWA and talks about its benefits for the wellness and medical communities.

 

Medical Wellness: What inspired you to create the Medical Wellness Association?
 

Breuleux: I saw a need for medical and wellness practitioners to join forces to improve professional support, outcomes, and consumer services. Quite frankly, after 30 years in health care, I was amazed at the lack of integration, communication, and knowledge of multiple medical disciplines.

 

Our goal is to enhance patient care by informing members of the professional health community about emerging practices that may have efficacy in their own clinical practices, again, with patient wellbeing as the primary focus.
 

MW: What is the need? Aren't there other professional associations that address your concerns and issues?

Breuleux: Clearly, the need is to improve medical and wellness outcomes, which then benefits everyone, from the provider to the patient and the family member. Yes, there are many specific professional and trade organizations.

 

However, most groups primarily target individual group issues and do not promote integration, partnering, and collaboration of medical wellness services; for example, the “for-profit vs. not-for-profit” competition. There is a great need for working together to improve quality and outcome standards in our fast-paced evolving industry.

MW: Who would benefit from joining the MWA?

Breuleux: Every allied health, wellness, and medical professional can benefit by becoming a member of MWA.

 

Professional medical members include physicians, chiropractors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, osteopaths, nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, and dietitians.

 

Wellness practitioners include massage therapists, health educators, counselors, physiologists, counselors, exercise technicians, and personal trainers.

 

By promoting a cross-disciplinary approach to personal wellbeing, everyone benefits—from clinics, universities, hospitals, and clubs, to not-for-profit groups such as the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, and the YMCA.

MW: What are the goals of MWA?

Breuleux: Our professional goals include:

• Defining, promoting, and integrating wellness practices and services within the clinical setting

• Promoting the integration of medical, complementary, and alternative therapies when appropriate

• Facilitating professional partnerships and coalitions to promote further clinical integration

• Providing professional leadership and education for medical wellness

• Developing standards, guidelines, and credentialing programs

• Advancing medical wellness leadership excellence and recognition

• Enhancing networking and professional development opportunities

• Strengthening, supporting, and diversifying membership and partners

• Collaborating and partnering with high-quality providers and organizations

MW: What are the major issues facing the allied health field today?

Breuleux: Our main challenge is overcoming the bias of “practice silos,” where evidence-based practices are dismissed regardless of which clinical approach is implemented. This myopic perspective sometimes ignores one important component of patient care: the patient’s informed decision making, including preferences and expectations.

 

This is not to say that every complementary or conventional approach is appropriate. However, primary practitioners should not summarily dismiss a complementary approach. Similarly, complementary or alternative practitioners should not dismiss conventional approaches. We need to be open to new approaches, with our first goal being premum non nocere (“first do no harm”), and our second, to improve patients' health status and quality of life.