Here is the note that I received from Christina Chan, devoted Hernande’z patron and founder of the Heart & Hands Health Centre”: “We would be delighted to be part of your community. I feel that we have similar philosophies to our businesses about accessibility, affordability, simplicity and of course, quality. I live downtown and would be more than happy to have a quick chat about our little clinic. But for now, “Heart & Hands Health Centre is a community-based, shared space for the practice of holistic therapies. We are grassroots, practitioner-run and patient-centred. Our intention is to shift peoples’ attitudes towards self-care and preventative health. To create a healthy community, you need to start with its people.”

In health,
Christina

Last week, I caught up with Christina and learned a bit more about her unique take on community health care. Read on!

I’d learned about the principles of sustainable development during my undergraduate and so the term “sustainable community healthcare” had positive connotations when I heard it, but I wanted to know more, so I asked Christina to tell me exactly what she meant by “sustainable community healthcare”. Christina explained that there are three aspects to this approach: equality/inclusion, empowerment, and personal responsibility. Here are her statements on each:

Equality/Inclusion

“I learned about community acupuncture in second year of my acupuncturist education. It is a big movement that started in Portland and has grown exponentially. It’s a movement that empowers practitioners because it enables them to meet their two fold means: to sustain themselves financially and to enable members of the community to access their services. Usually an acupuncture treatment ranges from $50.00-$80.00 per session, at Hearts and Hands, the same treatment is offered at a sliding scale of $20.00. I am happy to have found this model because it enables me to sustain myself and build my practice while working with people who I most relate to…people with kids, people with student loans, people who have mortgages, people who cannot afford the higher rates.”

“My parents were immigrants and had little financial resources. They struggled, made things work; but how much easier it could have been for them to have accessed resources at low cost. It would have resulted in better health for our family, with less stress. My focus on acupuncture is also a sign of respect to my heritage–acupuncture is a rich, amazing modality rooted steeped in rich culture and history. I have also personally dealt with chronic illness since I was twelve–so, the concept of struggling to stay healthy and well is something that I understand on a profound level.”

Christina explained that the focus of the Hearts and Hands community of healthcare practitioners (acupuncture, yoga, shiatsu/reiki, meditation, thai massage, feldenkreis and acupuncture) is to give the community access to a growing network of holistic practitioners that offer high quality services in a group setting.

Whoa…did that mean that I’d be getting acupuncture while the guy next to me would doing yoga?

No.

The practitioners share space by maximizing the use of the place through intricate scheduling balancing. The rooms are separate and the clients enjoy privacy.

From a geographer’s standpoint, I could see that they were definitely exploring new ways of using space in a manner that was more sustainable than the usual method (leasing a space that then remains vacant between appointments, that too often are few and far between!). I was beginning to like the sound of this sustainable healthcare…

I wondered on what basis the practitioners had agreed to share space, what was it that they had in common that enabled them to consider that they were able to provide a somewhat integrative experience?

Philosophically, all the practitioners have agreed to accessible rates. They also agree that they are not in the business of “fixing” people, they merely assist people to regain their inherent balance.

I wanted more details about this, so Christina explained:

“I don’t like the term “fix” because that’s not what I’m doing. I’m just facilitating a message from the body. I relay that information that their body is telling me and I assist the person to respond  to what their body is telling me.”

Empowerment

For the  Heart and Hands Health Centre, empowerment means that the people can be in control of their health. People shouldn’t have to hesitate to get what they need to improve their health because of lack of funds. The people who need the services can access them and that is very empowering!

Personal Responsibility

The Centre does not call you to book appointments or to enforce treatment plans. You are encouraged to book your appointments yourself online and to commit to the follow through yourself. Also they teach you how to prepare your own receipts for taxation. These seemingly small steps lead to an increased personal responsibility which is inherently healing.

Well, I am getting excited by the idea of all this, but I am still a little shy of new treatments and concepts. Christina assures me that the space is welcoming and invites me to the upcoming Open House on Saturday, February 5 and Sunday, February 6 (see details in our “upcoming events”). Check back here in Febuary for the updates!