Biofield Therapies: Helpful or Full of Hype? A Best Evidence Synthesis

Biofield therapies (such as Reiki, therapeutic touch, and healing touch) are complementary medicine modalities that remain controversial and are utilized by a significant number of patients, with little information regarding their efficacy. This systematic review examines 66 clinical studies with a variety of biofield therapies in different patient populations. We conducted a quality assessment as well as a best evidence synthesis approach to examine evidence for biofield therapies in relevant outcomes for different clinical populations. Studies overall are of medium quality, and generally meet minimum standards for validity of inferences. Biofield therapies show strong evidence for reducing pain intensity in pain populations, and moderate evidence for reducing pain intensity hospitalized and cancer populations. There is moderate evidence for decreasing negative behavioral symptoms in dementia and moderate evidence for decreasing anxiety for hospitalized populations. There is equivocal evidence for biofield therapies' effects on fatigue and quality of life for cancer patients, as well as for comprehensive pain outcomes and affect in pain patients, and for decreasing anxiety in cardiovascular patients. There is a need for further high-quality studies in this area. Implications and future research directions are discussed

Psychological interventions for coronary heart disease

A meta-analysis was conducted on 35 trials involving 10,703 individuals who had experienced a myocardial infarction and were randomised to an intervention involving some form of psychological therapy. Ten of these studies involved individuals with confirmed psychiatric diagnoses. Moderate quality evidence found no reduction of risk for total mortality or revascularisation procedures in comparison to usual care. Low quality evidence found no risk reduction for non-fatal MI although there was a 21% reduction in cardiac mortality. There was also some evidence of benefit on measures of psychological morbidity including anxiety, depression, and stress. It is concluded that psychological interventions may reduce cardiac mortality, although stronger evidence is required before this can be definitively concluded. It is also not clear who benefits most from psychological interventions

Psychological functioning and life experiences in adults with congenital heart disease

The number of adults with congenital heart disease is growing rapidly and this population requires highly specialized medical and also psychosocial care. The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the psychosocial aspects of adults with congenital heart disease, by focusing on psychological functioning, factors associated with psychological distress, coping strategies and life experiences in this population. In the literature, it is outlined how psychological and social aspects, more than the more objective medical ones, play an important role in the psychological wellbeing of these patients who struggle to lead a life which is as \u201cnormal\u201d as possible. Finally, a clinical case study regarding the provision of support to an adult with congenital heart disease, immediately after cardiac surgery, is reported at the end of the chapter. In this case study, elements regarding the referral to the psychologist are described, and it is shown how the issues reported in the literature emerge in a subjective life experience