Mary Clapper says she’s the “poster child” for St. John’s integrative health care services.
A retired St. John’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit nurse, 64-year-old Clapper didn’t put much stock into non-traditional approaches to health care, she says.

“I was the biggest skeptic around when it came to integrative therapies,” Clapper says. “But I had tried about everything in the book for my rheumatoid arthritis. What finally worked the best for me was combining Remicade, a traditional treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, with integrative therapies such as massage, aromatherapy, reflexology, auriculotherapy, biofeedback, electromedicine and hot oil compresses on my painful areas.”

After an injury in 1992, Clapper developed arthritis, muscle spasms and severe pain. About a year ago – 10 years after the onset of her arthritis – she attended an arthritis self-management class and learned how she could better manage her chronic pain and arthritis with natural methods.
“My hands were swollen up like balloons at the class and the nurse suggested I needed to apply hot compresses with castor oils. I tried that and it worked better than anything I had tried before,” she says.

With her rheumatologist’s blessing, Clapper began treatments at St. John’s Integrative Health Care Resource Center, which is located inside St. John’s Health Plans building at 3265 S. National.

KEY COMPONENT

“The key component of St. John’s integrative health care program is that we integrate with and complement traditional medication,” says Susan Blackard, R.N., vice president of St. John’s Corporate Health Services, the department that houses the integrative program. “All of the therapies that we provide are consistent with St. John’s philosophy and are approved by the National Institutes of Health.”

Blackard adds that integrative health care includes more than treatments.

“Our program is very well-rounded. We offer more than treatments … our staff offers personal health coaching and education about proper nutrition, water consumption, vitamins and supplements, relaxation and other simple things patients can do for themselves at home to help manage their condition.”

Clapper says the center’s staff, which includes Nurse Coordinator Faith Nelson, RN, PhD, massage therapists and registered nurses certified in aromatherapy, electromedicine and other integrative therapies, educated her about heat, pressure points and aromatherapy to alleviate pain at home.

A year after beginning integrative therapies, Clapper says her improvement has been dramatic. She returns for treatment about twice a month now.

“I’m much more mobile and my pain is gone. I can use my hands a lot more now and I’m teaching a PACE (People with Arthritis Can Exercise) class at the Southside Seniors Center,” she says.

Therapies

• Biofeedback/Stress Management: Painless, non-drug therapy that incorporates behavior modification to help make positive changes.
   
• Aromatherapy: The use of essential oils for physical, emotional and esthetical well-being.
   
• Electro medicine: Microcurrent stimulation administered as a safe, therapeutic stimulus to the mind/body. A simple, anxiety-reducing treatment you can do at home with an electromedicine device. Most patients may feel more relaxed after a treatment and think more clearly and creatively.
  Auriculotherapy: Stimulates the outer ear using highly specialized instruments. Various parts of the outer ear correspond to specific parts of the body. Stimulating these points can help restore balance.
   
• Auriculotherapy does not involve the use of needles, relying instead on a probe with a micro current stimulus.
   
• Therapeutic Massage: A complement to traditional medical treatment for illness, injury, stress and pain.
   
• Healthy lifestyle education
• Nutritional counseling
• Energy management
• Personal health coaching
• Tobacco cessation counseling
• Herbal, vitamin and nutritional supplement education
•  Yoga
• Guided imagery.

For more information about St. John's Integrative Health Care program, please call 417-820-5359.