At the Portland Centre for Integrative Medicine (PCIM) we're committed to delivering sustainable healthcare using a whole-person 'holistic' care approach, bringing together conventional and complementary medicine to create choice and support health and wellbeing.
What will this crowdfunding campaign deliver?
Our crowdfunding campaign aims to raise funds to provide Self-Care for Wellbeing Courses in Southmead, an area of Bristol that faces challenging health inequalities and high deprivation (Southmead Statistic Ward Profile 2016, Bristol City Council).
These courses will combine three holistic healthcare approaches: Creative Writing for Wellbeing, Mindfulness and Yoga, and have been designed to enable all participants to take more responsibility for their health and wellbeing.
Why should I donate to this crowdfunding campaign?
These courses are free!! By supporting us you'll make these courses happen, and help to protect the environment from further harm caused by waste pharmaceuticals in the water.
That's not all!
We've lined up some excellent incentives so you can treat yourself, and show your support for Integrative Medicine in Bristol. These include a range of 'I'm for IM' merchandise designed by our very own administrative secretary and freelance jewellery designer, Terri Young. You can also pick up a Food for Wellbeing apron; a Herbal Homeopathy (Tea) Mug; and a set of Creative Writing for Wellbeing pens to get your juices flowing!
On top of that, you have the chance to engage in some health and wellbeing of your own.
Incentives include discounts to our services, so you can experience Holistic and Integrative Medicine for yourself.
We're also excited to offer an exclusive historic walking tour of landmarks in Bristol that have been key to the development of complementary medicine in the city, as well as dinner with one of our expert practitioners.
Sound interesting? Read on for more information!
What is sustainable healthcare and why is it important?
Sustainable healthcare is socially, economically, and environmentally friendly. A sustainable healthcare system is achieved by delivering high-quality care and improved public health without exhausting natural resources or causing severe ecological damage. We believe self-care and social prescribing provides a solution, taking the emphasis away from prescribing drugs to prescribing activities that support our health and wellbeing.
We sometimes forget that pharmaceuticals can have a direct impact on the environment, e.g. do you know what happens to your medication when you flush it away?
In 2016, Wessex Water highlighted the prevalence of pharmaceuticals in sewage and treated water in the South West of England (Wessex Water Sustainability Report 2016). The paper draws attention to the negative impact prescription medications have on the environment when flushed away, in terms of pollution and the effects water treatment plants have on the surrounding countryside. One study in 2006 found 28 pharmaceutical compounds in water that had already been treated. These included traces of caffeine, antibiotics, analgesics and anti-inflammatories, lipid regulators, beta-blockers, anti-convulsant, and steroid hormones.
How PCIM makes a difference
At PCIM, we're committed to making Bristol a sustainable healthcare city by providing accessible health and wellbeing services that use a holistic healthcare approach.
The services we provide at PCIM might reduce the need for drugs, e.g. we have delivered a charitably funded Mindfulness for Recurrent Depression course, as there is evidence this can help to prevent another episode of depression. Not only does holistic healthcare help individuals to support their health and wellbeing using a self-care model, relieving pressure on overstretched public services, but it saves the environment and protects green spaces, too!
Who will deliver the course?
Our Self-Care for Wellbeing course will be delivered by our expert staff, who are trained in conventional and complementary medicine.
Fiona Hamilton (right) is a writer, tutor and facilitator specialising in therapeutic writing, poetry, spoken word and life story. She has extensive experience of working in the NHS and complementary care with people affected by cancer and other health challenges.
She also works with young people on interactive arts projects, such as Bite Sized, which addresses eating disorders using poetry and other art forms. She teaches an MSc in therapeutic writing with Metanoia Institute.
Recent publications are about creative writing in healthcare for a book on medical humanities published by Routledge, and on writing process and practice for the Finnish publication Scriptum.
Julia Wallond (left) trained as a doctor at the University of Bristol and went on to train as a GP in Exeter.
Back in Bristol she has worked for many years in the inner city and is currently a locum GP. She became interested in meditation while still at medical school and found mindfulness an increasingly helpful support in her work as a junior doctor and GP. She completed the two-year postgraduate course in mindfulness teacher training at the University of Exeter in 2011 and has since taught mindfulness courses to patients, students and healthcare professionals. She has remained in contact with the University of Exeter where she is a tutor and supervisor for other teachers.
Meditation and mindfulness continue to inspire her and connect her to her love of life.
You may also come into contact with Dr Elizabeth Thompson, our CEO; Tiffany Daniels, our Executive Assistant and the person running this campaign; and Patti Aberhart and Terri Young, our administrative secretaries and your first point of call for enquiries!
What is the PCIM Community Interest Company?
Led by healthcare professionals, PCIM delivers health and wellbeing clinics and courses in the South West of England. We also provide Integrative Medicine education, training, research and evaluation programs for clinicians and practitioners. PCIM is a ‘not for profit’ community interest company (CIC) registered in England (no. 08529099) and a registered charity (no. 229945).
Further reading and references:
- World Health Organisation, Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water Report
- The Guardian, Drugs flushed into the environment could be cause of wildlife decline
- NCBI, Expert stakeholders' views on the management of human pharmaceuticals in the environment
- Europa.eu, Study on the environmental risks of medicinal products