|
Ordering
The Blissful Brain
The Blissful Brain is published
by Gaia Thinking. For more information on how to order your
copy, please click
here.
Guardian
G2: Mind over matter by Andy Darling
"Neuroscientist Shanida Nataraja has
proven meditation does more than clear your head, it can put
both halves of your brain to work, improving your concentration,
memory, and decision-making...". To read more, please
click
here.
The
Times: Calm down dear by Angela Pertusini
"Claims by the neuroscientist Shanida
Nataraja regarding the benefits of meditation have been backed
up by rigourous scientific research and are explained in her
acclaimed book The Blissful Brain: Neuroscience and Proof
of the Power of Meditation". To read more, please click
here.
Just
this Day event: A Day of Silence and Stillness at St
Martin's in the Field on 23rd of November 2011
Shanida Nataraja will be participating in
this exciting event that aims to explore the power of silience
and stillness in our busy world. For more information, please
click
here or visit the Just
This Day website.
Mindfulness
in the Workplace: Brain based approaches to improving employee
resilience and productivity at Robinson College, Cambridge
on 10 February 2012
Shanida Nataraja will be speaking at this
day event that brings together leading experts in mindfulness
to discuss how it could help organisations improve productivity
& resiliance. Speakers include Professor Mark Williams, Michael
Chaskalson, Ruby Wax, Margaret Chapman, and more (for more
information, please see click
here.
.
|
Multidisciplinary
Approach
The
management of many diseases now involves a multi-disciplinary
team (MDT) approach. As our understanding of diseases and
their appropriate treatment has deepened, it has become increasingly
clear that in order to tackle these diseases effectively,
a multi-pronged approach is needed. This is perhaps most evident
in the area of oncology.
In recent years, many different treatments have become available.
Patients are now likely to receive a combination of surgery,
radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, and treatment plans therefore
need to be tailored to suit the needs of the individual patient.
On diagnosis, the patient will meet with all the members of
the MDT to discuss their condition and possible treatment
options. In the case of a cancer patient, this team will include
a medical oncologist, surgeon, pharmacist, and pathologist,
as well as specialist nurses, psychologists, palliative care
specialists, and the patient’s primary care provider. The
patient is included in all decisions about their treatment
and benefits from the expertise of a large number of different
specialties.
The
patient is therefore placed at the centre of the decision-making
process and regains control over their body and the management
of their disease; this empowers the patient rather than making
them feel helpless and powerless. Furthermore, as conventional
healthcare systems are struggling under the demand for medical
care, lifestyle modification is also slowly being acknowledged
to be a crucial component of disease prevention and management.
It is no longer viewed as “good practice” to merely prescribe
a medication and discharge the patient. Patients are now increasing
being offered (or at least advised to seek out) a variety
of different supportive treatments, including stress-reduction
management, dietary modification, and psychological counselling.
The primary aim of the MDT approach is to improve the standard
of care offered to individual patients. By drawing on the
expertise of a wide range of different specialists early on
in the treatment pathway for a particular patient, the optimal
treatment approach can be devised for that patient. Furthermore,
certain conditions, such as hypertension, can often be the
result of an underlying disease process. The MDT approach
ensures that all appropriate disciplines are recruited into
patient management in a timely fashion and that, therefore,
the underlying disease process is tackled early on, as well
as the presenting condition. The MDT approach also improves
communication between these different specialities, which
further drives the standard of care offered to patients. Not
only does an MDT approach give rise to greater levels of patient
satisfaction with their treatment, but it also has been reported
to often improve patient outcomes.
Back
to index
|
