One of the challenges with finding alternative approaches to healthcare that you know are trustworthy is that new or unconventional forms of treatment often don't have the benefit of financial resources for going through published peer review processes that mainstream medical practitioners rely on. Here is a new initiative that might help. The nonprofit Public Knowledge Project in Canada has launched Open Journal Systems as a journal management and publishing system to expand and improve access to research.
OJS assists with every stage of the refereed publishing process, from submissions through to online publication and indexing. Through its management systems, its finely grained indexing of research, and the context it provides for research, OJS seeks to improve both the scholarly and public quality of referred research.
The Journal of Participatory Medicine will be published free online using this system to give patients a trustworthy tool for understanding their needs and conditions and encouraging them to participate in their own wellness. For anyone going through what we have been through with Joshua, you might want to find out more about the journal from this article by Kevin Kelly.
[via WorldChanging]
Dear Rory and Lorraine
Firstly, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will look into it and perhaps the Natural Medicine Journal can participate. Then, just to let you both know that my thoughts are with you every day, but especially today when I heard that a friend of mine, Monica Fairall (the radio personality, x-miss South Africa and author of many articles and a book on cancer), passed away on Sunday. She wrote the book after losing her husband to cancer a few years ago. She was diagnosed with cancer in October. We have lost two powerful women in the industry (the other Irma Schutte, founder of SA Natural products) as well as Joshua in the space of 5 weeks to cancer.
Both Irma and Monica lived healthy lives - both sensitive people with wonderful inner strength and a passion to help others. They were diagnosed around the same time. One followed the chemotherapy route and the other an all natural approach. Both lost the battle.
I wish more can be done. You should see the flood of letters we receive from parents, like yourselves, touched by Joshua's story, coming to us for help. Why? Our polluted environment?
Is there a bigger, spiritual reason? Is the environment the spiritual reason/lesson?
I, too, have so many questions. If i had one wish, it would be that no child should suffer from anything, especially not cancer. With love, Daleen
Posted by: Daleen Totten | 22 June 2009 at 10:03 PM
Just thinking about you and wondering how you are doing. You're in our thoughts and prayers frequently. Victoria
Posted by: Victoria & Kevin | 05 July 2009 at 02:41 AM