If you'd rather place an order by talking to one of our cheerful order desk clerks, please call 1-888-232-4444 (USA and Canada only) or 250-383-6864. From Europe, ring our UK order desk clerk at local rate number 0845 230 9601 (UK only) or 44 (0)1865 722 113.

Principles of Holistic Medicine: Philosophy Behind Quality of Life

by Isack Kandel, Joav Merrick and Soren Ventegodt

228 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #05-1706; ISBN 1-4120-6795-2; US$22.95, C$26.39, EUR18.85, £13.20

Based on work done in Denmark we make the argument that knowing the meaning of your own life and living accordingly is the real source of health and well-being.

Read more!

About the Book

About the Author

Excerpts

Catalogue Information

About the Book

Principles of Holistic Medicine: Philosophy behind Quality of Life is a textbook in a series of books on holistic medicine and health based on the Danish Quality of Life Survey, where we asked 10,000 people about their quality of life (QOL). The results were quite surprising and forced us to recontemplate the following philosophical questions:

• What is quality of life, happiness, meaning in life?
• What is a human being?
• Do we need a new biology?
• Is the brain the seat of consciousness?
• How do we seize the meaning of life and by doing this, will we becoming well again?
• What are the key concepts of QOL?

The meaning of life is connectedness and development. It is about realizing every opportunity and potential in one's existence. And the opportunities have to be found and acknowledged. What do you find when you find yourself deepest down? You find your real self and your purpose in life. You realize that you are already a part of a larger totality. Antonovsky called it coherence. Maslow called it transcendence. Frankl called it meaning of life. We call it simply being.

To test if these philosphical questions were actually relevant for medicine we looked at the consequesces for patients being taught the QOL philosophy. Quite surprisingly we learned from our pilot studies with "QOL as medicine" that just by assimilating the basic concepts of the QOL philosophy presented in this series of papers, patients felt better and saw their lifes as more meaningful.

The improvement of personal philosophy of life seems to be the essence of holistic medicine and helping the patient to assume more responsibility.

---

About the Authors

Søren Ventegodt, MD, born 1961 in Denmark is the director of the Nordic School of Holistic Health and Quality of Life Research Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is also responsible for a Clinical Research Clinic for Holistic Medicine in Copenhagen and used as a popular speaker throughout Scandinavia. He has published numerous scientific or popular articles and a number of books on holistic medicine, quality of life and quality of working life. His most important scientific contributions are the comprehensive SEQOL questionnaire, the very short QOL5 questionnaire, the integrated QOL theory, the holistic process theory, the life mission theory, and the ongoing Danish Quality of Life Research Survey, 1991-94 in cooperation with the University Hospital of Copenhagen and the late professor of pediatrics, Bengt Zachau-Christiansen, MD, PhD. E-Mail: ventegodt@livskvalitet.org Website: www.livskvalitet.org/

Isack Kandel, MA, PhD, born 1944 in Bogata, Columbia is senior lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Behavioral Sciences, the Academic College of Judea and Samaria, Ariel, Israel. During the period 1985-93 he served as the director of the Division for Mental Retardation, Ministry of Social Affairs, Jerusalem, Israel. E-mail: kandelii@zahav.net.il

Joav Merrick, MD, DMSc, born in 1950 in Denmark is professor of child health and human development affiliated with the Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Aging, Zusman Child Development Center, Division of Pediatrics and Community Health at the Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel, the medical director of the Division for Mental Retardation, Ministry of Social Affairs, Jerusalem, the founder and director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Numerous publications in the field of child health and human development, rehabilitation, intellectual disability, disability, health, welfare, abuse, advocacy, quality of life and prevention. Received the Peter Sabroe Child Award for outstanding work on behalf of Danish Children in 1985 and the International LEGO-Prize ("The Children's Nobel Prize") for an extraordinary contribution towards improvement in child welfare and well-being in 1987. E-Mail: jmerrick@internet-zahav.net Website: www.nichd-israel.com

---

Excerpts

We believe that your philosophy of life is the most important thing to improve, if you want a better health. If you focus on quality of life, you are much more likely to succeed. And if you understand human existence in depth, you can get an immense empowering, almost always improving your happiness, health and ability in general, and sometimes even curing the disease or health problem you are suffering from.
There are many "soft" philosophers of health on the market and many people feel helped by the inspiring ideas of Antonovsky, Chopra and Wilber. This book present a "hard" and scientifically founded philosophy of life and existence, taking much of this understanding further. It starts with a new and more appreciative understanding of life: the basic understanding that we are living beings, full of living and conscious cells bringing us all the joy, energy and wisdom we need for a good living, if only our mind would allow it.
So our philosophy of life seems to be the weakest link in a human life. To improve philosophy of life therefore is the most important aspect of medicine, as it has been ever since the father of medicine, Hippocrates, established the modern medicine 2,300 years ago. Hippocrates rehabilitated the patient's purpose of life, human character and existential coherence. This book gives you an astonishing theoretical framework empowering you to do the same today. If you are a patient you will get an empowering understanding of life and health making it possible for you to help yourself better. Are you a health professional with a burning wish to help your patients better you will find the philosophical tool for exactly that.
This book is based on the work on quality of life conducted by Søren Ventegodt in Copenhagen. His Nordic bestseller "Quality of life" has been published in ten thousands of copies in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, creating a debate in the Nordic societies during the last decade, which has transformed the way health is now perceived. More than 1,000 times has the content of that book been discussed in the Nordic media, from the television newsreals to the front-page of all the big news papers in Denmark, where the central idea, that high quality of life in itself brings your good health and prevent disease, has been proclaimed.
The authors of the "Philosophy behind Quality of Life" are among the leading scientists in holistic medicine with more that 100 scientific papers on holistic medicine listed in Medline (www.pubmed.gov).

---

Catalogue Information

---