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NIKIM

NIKIM, the National Information and Knowledge Centre for Integrative Medicine, was founded in November 2006 by several medical specialists from various hospitals who had gained experience in working with the new care concept: Integrative Medicine (IM).
 
This group of five enthusiastic pioneers founded NIKIM for the benefit of (medical) specialists, other Dutch Health Care workers and, last but not least, for the patient. NIKIM’s goal is to provide information, to disseminate knowledge, to serve as a source of inspiration and to support people who want to further develop the IM concept. For this purpose, NIKIM aims to play an important role in networking.
 
Integrative Medicine is focused on vitality, wellbeing and possibilities in contrast to the current views of the Dutch Health Care which are primarily centered around disease, complaints and limitations. Integrative Medicine acknowledges the mind-body connection and actively integrates this knowledge in it’s approach to prevention and healing from disease.
 
The concept of Integrative Medicine builds on four pillars, each of which is equally important:
  • An equal relationship between patient and doctor in which the patient takes centre stage and the doctor is a supportive coach;
  • The patient is actively involved in his wellbeing, in prevention of disease and his own healing process;
  • Regular therapy is combined with evidence based complementary therapies (add-ons) to provide the most effective, least invasive, least toxic and most economic therapeutic strategy. In this strategy the whole person is treated, instead of just a symptom or disease;
  • Work takes place in a “healing environment” where interaction with each other and with the environment enhances the healing process.
Integrative Medicine is based on these four pillars and therefore goes beyond CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) and Holistic Medicine. 
 
Even though NIKIM is a Dutch organization, we use the English terminology of Integrative Medicine and not a Dutch alternative to emphasize that we are part of a worldwide movement. IM is well established in countries like the US, Canada and Australia. The Consortium of Academic Health Centres for Integrative Medicine was founded in July 1999 and their membership includes 44 highly esteemed academic medical centers like Duke, Harvard, Yale and Stanford University. These centers implement IM in their patient care, education and research. A similar organization does not yet exist in Europe, but there is a growing number of IM Initiatives, particularly in Germany, UK, Sweden and Switzerland. NIKIM is active in supporting the development of IM in the Netherlands. 
 
More information about Integrative Medicine on our website: www.nikim.nl.