Holistic Medicine

Overview

Holistic medicine is an approach to health and healing that considers the whole person, including physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions, rather than focusing solely on isolated symptoms or a single organ system. It is grounded in the view that well-being arises from the interaction of many factors, such as lifestyle, nutrition, environment, relationships, and psychological state, and it aims to identify and address underlying causes of illness while supporting the body's capacity to maintain and restore balance. Holistic practice often emphasizes prevention, patient participation, and the therapeutic relationship, and it may combine conventional medical care with complementary and traditional therapies. Because it spans diverse practices and philosophies, holistic medicine is closely associated with the broader field of complementary and integrative medicine, which examines therapeutic systems and modalities used alongside or in addition to mainstream care. Rigorous study of these approaches considers their rationale, safety, mechanisms, and evidence base, including the evaluation of traditional systems of medicine and mind-body relationships. This topic falls within the scope of the International Journal of Complementary Medicine, which addresses complementary, integrative, and traditional approaches to health. This page gathers peer-reviewed, open-access research relevant to complementary and holistic approaches to health within that scope.

Research published in this journal

3 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.

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