Integrative Adjuvant Care & Rehabilitation

Ayurveda and Allopathy working together to heal vulnerable patients

What is Integrative Care

Integrative Care or Co-managed Care is when specialists from different streams of medicine (in this case – Ayurveda and allopathy) seamlessly work together in the patient’s best health interests. To clarify: it is not one doctor practicing multiple systems of medicine. Apollo AyurVAID is the pioneer in successfully demonstrating Ayurveda-based integrative medicine through its partnership in recent years with India’s leading tertiary/quaternary care hospitals such as Apollo, Medanta, Aster, and Sri Shankara. 

Ayurveda-based Integrative Care plays an invaluable role in accelerating the healing and recovery process to the maximum extent possible by restoring the virtuous cycle of good health – good sleep, good appetite, normal bowel movement and micturition, calmer state of mind, wound healing, etc. – with a dietary prescription that is consistent with modern dietetics, yet based on an integrative application of Ayurveda dietetics, that is highly personalised to the patient, the place, time of the season, etc. Classical Ayurveda therapies carefully chosen and delivered at the bedside or in the Ayurveda treatment room play an essential role in promoting healing and well-being.

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Integrative offerings

Integrative Adjuvant Care
Complementary Ayurveda care for patients undergoing conventional Allopathy medical management. For e.g., Ayurveda to alleviate side effects and improve tolerance for Cancer patients undergoing Chemo/Radiotherapy. Or Ayurveda to help reduce dyskinesia, improve appetite, bowels & bladder control, sleep initiation & quality in a severely affected stroke patient. Other examples are patients suffering from Atypical Parkinsonism, Myofascial Syndrome, Chronic Kidney Disease, patients undergoing Chemotherapy or Radiotherapy, pregnancy care right from pre-conception to ante-natal care to post-natal care, or even the common low-back-ache where the patient is not eligible to undergo conventional Allopathy care (surgery or strong medicine).
Integrative Rehabilitation & Tertiary Prevention
Integrative Rehabilitation as step-down-care for patients after a primary course of conventional surgical/medical treatment for a life-threatening medical condition such as Cancer, Cardiac Failure, or Poly trauma due to road-traffic-accident, etc. Objective being to prevent recurrence/spread of the disease, as applicable, and to restore positive health and wellbeing. Typically, the patient in such cases is extremely vulnerable and needs modern medicine to stay alive; however, she/he needs, in addition, Ayurveda and Physical & Medical Rehabilitation (PMR) to recover. This is a unique offering bringing together the best of two mature systems of medicine systematically and professionally in the best interests of the patient. When the patient’s health condition is unstable then necessarily the patient has to be admitted in hospital to avail of the integrative care. Once stable, the patient may be shifted to his/her home and care availed on out-patient/day-care basis or at home.
Reducing Polypharmacy Burden
This is care for patients suffering from one-or-more refractory, chronic diseases and consuming a heavy dose of multiple medicines(polypharmacy). Long-term use of multiple medications for elderly patients diagnosed with chronic diseases seriously reduces their quality of life. The burden of medications of patients critically affects their medication beliefs, behaviours, and disease outcomes. Typically, such patients are on multiple drugs prescribed by multiple specialists who do not consult each other to align their individual prescriptions to make it optimally right for the patient. This not only leads to serious side-effects and impaired quality of life but also potentially delays/negates the patient’s recovery from the refractory disease. This is where Apollo AyurVAID’s integrative care program executed at a whole-person-level (Apollo ayurvaid.com/whole-person-care) can enable the patient to progressively reduce the drug burden and explore systematic weaning off the strong medicine. The weaning off is strictly monitored and only in response to the patient’s demonstrated change in health status.  Typical example of such a case is an 88-year-old patient treated at Apollo AyurVAID suffering from severe diabetes, with a suppurative diabetic foot ulcer, parkinsonism, insomnia, and problems with digestion, bowel movement. Progressively, the diabetes was brought under control, the wound healed, and the patient was maintained on minimal medicines. His quality of life and that of his family members improved extraordinarily.
End-of-Life Care & Survivorship
Integrative Care is also most appropriate for End-of-Life care as well as promoting Survivorship in patients suffering from an end-stage medical conditions such a Cancer, Multi-system failure, Neurodegenerative disorders, etc. Conservative Ayurveda medical management supports conventional medicine to enable the patient to live his/her last days in relative peace and comfort, minimizing trauma for both the patient and her/his family members.

Illustrative Example of Integrative Medicine:

The sequence of care provided to Mr. Raj, 49 years, admitted at a leading quaternary care hospital in Bangalore (where Apollo AyurVAID operates its in-patient care centre) for treatment of hemiplegia due to multiple intracranial aneurysms

  • Admission
  • Integrative care Timeline (45 days)
  • Discharge
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4
Primary Role
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
Ayurveda
Secondary Role

Physiotherapy
Pulmonology
Vascular surgery

Ayurveda
Physiatry

Neurosurgery
Physiatry

Treatment Objective
Neurosurgery
  • Cerebral DSA
  • Rt ICA distal to ophthalmic artery
  • Rt MCA bifurcation aneurysm
  • Large ICA Aneurysm
  • Left MCA bifurcation

Neurosurgery

Medical Mainteinance

Physiatry:
Neuro-rehab

Ayurveda

  • Reduces dyskinesia, Improve Speech, Cognition, Oral Feed
  • Function parameters-Appetite initiation, Bowels & Bladder Control, Sleep initiation &Quality, Vitality

Neurosurgery

Medical Mainteinance

Physiatry:
Neuro-rehab

Ayurveda

  • Enhancement of speech, Cognition
  • Stabilize functional parameters
  • Improve ambulation

Listen to Our Patient’s Voice

FAQ on Integrative Adjuvant Care & Rehabilitation

How do I initiate integrative care for my family member?
Please call or send a mail with basic details about the patient and his/her health condition. Integrative care is currently offered at select Apollo AyurVAID centres in Bangalore and Gurugram (Delhi NCR). Either an in-person or a tele-video consultation with a patient/family member will be arranged with a senior Apollo AyurVAID Physician. The next steps would be mutually decided between the physician and you after the consultation.
How are the clinical outcomes of integrative care programs in comparison with standalone programs (either Ayurveda or allopathy alone)?
For vulnerable patients suffering from one or more serious medical conditions, integrative care is perhaps the only option since each system of medicine independently may be incapable of curing and restoring positive health. Further, clinical outcomes of integrative management in such cases are distinctly superior to standalone care. Apollo AyurVAID, in association with its leading partners in tertiary/quaternary care, will be able to offer this unique care program selectively.
How do doctors from different streams of medicine work together?
Please note that each line of care is prescribed and administered by experts from each stream of medicine working together seamlessly in the best interests of the patient’s health and recovery. For Ayurveda care, a senior Ayurveda physician oversees the condition and for allopathy care, relevant senior allopathy doctors are available to manage the care. Incidentally, integrative care has emerged as a key differentiated offering in top hospitals globally such as Mayo Clinic, Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Hospital, Johns Hopkins, etc.
Do you offer integrative care at all your locations?
We currently offer integrative care in Bangalore and Delhi NCR. We will be progressively extending this service to other cities in association with our partners from tertiary/quaternary healthcare. For patients in other cities, we advise a tele-video consultation to ascertain if and how the power of integrative medicine from Apollo AyurVAID can be availed.
Is integrative care covered under health insurance?
The first step is to consult with an Apollo AyurVAID Physician to understand the patient’s health status and the broad plan of appropriate care. In case integrative management is necessary, the patient will be referred to an appropriate Apollo AyurVAID centre where such services are available. At this point, once an integrative care plan is developed by specialists from Ayurveda and allopathy, our insurance support team can advise you if the proposed plan of care is covered or not under your policy.

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