Friday, October 19, 2018

Call for Papers from JACM: are you teaching classes in tai chi, qi gong, acupressure, or other self-care integrative health therapy?

key words:  research, peer-reviewed scientific journals, focus on integrative health

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine has a call out to submit your work and/or papers if you have been teaching classes in tai chi, qi gong, acupressure, foam-rolling, mindfulness, or other self-care therapies to patients.

Please read the journal's guidelines for submission and submit your qualifying work before February 28th, 2019, for their special focus issue, Innovation in Group-Delivered Services, due to publish about July 2019.

you can submit:

  • original research
  • commentary
  • reviews
  • particular interest in:
  • cost outcomes
  • payment strategies
  • sustainable program models


also interested in commentaries:

  • about related health policy
  • reimbursement changes based on clinical research
  • translational issues
  • implementation research
  • comparative cost analysis


Read more about submission options and guidelines at their website
Here are some excerpts from the guidelines page:
"An emerging mosaic of clinical evidence supports vastly expanded use of group services to deliver optimal care--especially in integrative health and medicine models."

"We see access to services among economically-challenged, multiethnic populations who cannot otherwise access integrative care.  We see emerging evidence of cost-savings and of increased satisfaction among practitioners who have a clinical component of group work." 

"Strategies for behavioral change show a facilitative leadership style with opportunities for interactivity and experiential learning are more effective methods of learning, of engagement and of empowerment.  For the values of integrative health, we see tremendous alignment."

"In July 2019, JACM will publish a Special Focus Issue on Innovation in Group-Delivered Services.  We are pleased to engage this work in partnership with Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US) and Centering Healthcare Institute." 

"We are encouraging  submission of original research, commentary, and/or reviews.  We are interested in effectiveness data from innovative models.  We seek reports on cost outcomes, payment strategies, and sustainable programs.  We are interested in group models focused on single methodologies tailored to group-based acupuncture and in multimodality approaches.  We are interested in methodologies tailored to group-based research and applied clinical education strategies on group clinical methods.  We seek commentaries that explore health policy and reimbursement changes based on clinical research." 

"In alignment with JACM''s ongoing editorial focus, we seek explorations of translational issues, implementation research, comparative cost analyses, and improvement research."

"We invite your submissions! We are interested in group-delivered services with intended clinical endpoints.  We anticipate that group services will be increasingly offered as medicine moves to become a system for enabling people toward health.  Our goal is to create a volume that will serve as guidance for increasing appropriate uptake of innovated group services in health-oriented payment and delivery of the future."
"When submitting your paper, please select the Innovation in Group-Delivered Services 2019 Special Issue manuscript category to ensure it is considered for this special issue.  Original manuscripts should be no longer than 3000 words and Systematic Reviews should be no longer than 4500 words.  Title, abstract, acknowledgments, disclosures, references, and figure/table legends do not count toward the word limit.
"Additional feature:  as an additional feature in this JACM Special Focus Issue, we urge your submission of a 500-word commentary to reflect on next steps for group-delivered services:  controversies, unusual experiences (not case reports), models of care, educational models, etc.  We will select from those submitted a set that will be published together to capture the challenges and opportunities for this moment for the field."

Monday, October 8, 2018

Leadership and Workplace Monday: Making Space for Innovation; seeing failure as constructive toward growth

wall chart to measure growth
key words:  leadership and workplace, change-makers, nonprofit leadership innovation
key concepts:  leading innovation, tools and ideas to help lead change in your organization, how to embrace failure on the path to change as opportunities to learn from your mistakes instead of fearing mistakes, moving forward and embracing change is uncomfortable--how do you help your team be more comfortable with transparency with mistakes and learning from failure as a way to improve the workplace

When you are changing the traditional medical system toward embracing more "care", "patient-centered-ness", and "health" paradigm, you will need to make time and room for innovation, change, and embracing failure.

This interview from Driving Participation podcast with Jesse Lane of Pure Charity shares practical tools to make space and time for the growth mindset and space for innovation every organization needs to grow and thrive.

Source:  The Driving Participation podcast with Beth Brodovsky.
Interviewed Jesse Lane of Pure Charity on 9.26.2018
"Creating a Culture Where Ideas Come to Life" or on iTunes.

“Trying new things can be scary—but often, the payoff is worth it. Jesse Lane of Pure Charity joins this session to explore ways nonprofits can be more innovative and how to create an environment that fosters creativity. He shares how at an organization he was a part of, they would set aside four hours every week just to brainstorm new ideas or work on implementing ones already in the pipeline. It created an environment for innovative ideas to be brought to the table in a new way and people were excited to share their suggestions. He and Beth explore why failure isn't always bad, how to get your donors involved in organizational changes, and much more.”

Megan's notes from listening

Core Values, a check-in minute 0-16
Hospitals, healthcare systems, nonprofit organizations have a published mission, vision, and core values.  After you publish your core values, are you checking in to see how your operations and products reinforcing those values?

When you know a core value isn't a core value:
If the core value does not show up in the work you are doing, it is not a core value.
As an organization, if you are not actively doing things that support, reinforce, and nurture that core value, it will not show up in your organization's products/outcomes or culture. [paraphrase]

Innovation vs. fear of failure and fear of risk-taking
growth and innovation mindset vs. scarcity mindset

When moving toward innovation, make failure a positive learning experience and keep moving forward.


Moving Forward:  Creating a Culture of Innovation

What are the needed basics?  minute 16

  • dedicated time
  • dedicated space
  • dedicated supplies

What are practical ways to initiate a culture of innovation, a growth mindset? minutes 18-19
These are the ideas Jesse mentioned:

  • quarterly shark tank experience
  • weekly meetings 
  • invest in a "sandbox lab"

What does this look like? (example) minute 21-23 and 24-26

  • 10% time innovation
  • 4 hours on Fridays.  4 hours/40-hour work week = 10% time investment
  • 4 hrs Friday afternoon "innovation lab"


What changes must leaders make to encourage this kind of innovation?  minute 26-28

  • model it themselves
  • dedicated time
  • dedicated space
  • system for accountability
    • i.e. dedicated task force (people) "innovation champions"
  • budget for it


How do organizations best address failure as a positive?  minute 28
  • celebrate the risk that was taken, even when it was not successful
  • What did we learn from this (failure)? minute 31 Where do we go from here?
  • See failure as a first step toward a success story
  • check in with your end user on your work and get feed back.
    • Must be doing regular check in with your end user on your work and getting feedback because this helps you avoid getting too far from your work/mission/end user
    • example:  "We designed this for you; what is your feedback?"
What are some first steps toward adding innovation to your organization's culture? minute 38
  1. set realistic goals, definition, and structure
    • example:  budget, time, space.  4 hours/week I go to the coffee shop with Person B to keep you accountable to your new idea
  2. start small 
  3. set goals 
  4. create an accountability system
  5. check in regularly with your end user
Quote from the TED Talk:
"...enthusiastic skepticism is not the enemy of boundless optimism.  It is optimism's perfect partner.  It unlocks the potential in every idea." --Astro Teller, "Moonshot Factory", X Project, Google.


Related Blogposts on Leadership and Work-place
resources related to changing workplace culture and moving the Integrative Health paradigm forward