From practice wisdom to research knowledge: The case of the development of the Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit intervention model

Abstract

This chapter is a review on how the Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit (IBMS) intervention model is being developed through a process of serving and learning from patients and survivors on what helped them through their trajectory of illness or experience. It includes moving from simple pre-/post-measures to randomized controlled trial, generating IBMS measurement scales specific to holistic wellness of the mind, body and soul, collecting saliva to measure cortisol and blood to measure physiological markers of the immune system as an outcome measurement, and continuous improvement in the practice of the IBMS model in the past 30 years. Practice research in social work relies heavily on practice wisdom from practitioners instead of aiming as proving research hypothesis. Social work practice has not adequately recognized spirituality as a significant domain of human experience. Influenced by the Eastern philosophies of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism and the yin-yang perspective, IBMS adopts knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine as a conceptual framework.