IM4US Conference: Decolonizing Medicine: Toward Equity and Inclusivity in Integrative Healthcare

Hosted by Integrative Medicine for the Underserved | Virtual |

What does it mean to decolonize medicine; and, how do we build more equitable models of integrative healthcare? Integrative Health has been critiqued as a movement emphasizing “elite medicine for the worried well… [and] pricey, non-essential healthcare practices for the ‘overserved.’ ”* Yet, many ‘integrative’ practices (e.g., yoga, mindfulness, acupuncture) have historical roots in communities of color, and—like air and water–belong in the commons, where value goes beyond price. Such practices also often originate in Indigenous therapeutic paradigms that pre-date European colonization — but continue to be devalued.

This year’s IM4US conference welcomes contributions on the following themes as well as other areas related to equity and inclusivity in integrative healthcare:

Using anti-racist and/or re-Indigenizing strategies to address social and structural determinants of health;

Lifting up models of financially accessible, trauma-informed, culturally-safe and culturally-responsive healthcare;

Building trustworthy healthcare organizations;

Transforming biomedical supremacy, environmental racism and cultural misappropriation in healthcare;

Expanding what ‘evidence’ means for marginalized communities and practices;

Redefining professional expertise through dignified collaboration between diverse healthcare practitioners, patients, and communities; and

Recognizing and honoring community-based health sovereignty.