Introducing: People's Organization of Community Acupuncture (POCA)

The Community Acupuncture Network (CAN) is the world-wide organization of which Philadelphia Community Acupuncture has been a part since opening. Within the next several months that organization will transform itself into a multi-stakeholder cooperative entitled POCA, the People's organization of Community Acupuncture.

We hope that you'll read a little bit of the following, and see how we're trying to figure out how to even more effectively deliver affordable healthcare, and how POCA will help us acknowledge even more how central you are to the every day and to the future of community acupuncture.

Since its inception, the Community Acupuncture movement has been led by practitioners to serve patients. The movement has grown from a single clinic in Portland, Oregon, to hundreds of clinics around the country and the world. Practitioners and acupuncture students turning to this model of affordable, sliding-scale care in a group setting have generated a critical mass of energy that is propelling the Community Acupuncture movement into its next stage of growth and development. To date, the Community Acupuncture Network (CAN), a 501c6 non-profit professional organization, has been the main vehicle to foster the growth and proliferation of community acupuncture.

However, needs have arisen that will be best met by a new type of organization—a multi-stakeholder cooperative. One of the most basic issues addressed by the cooperative that was not served by CAN is the direct involvement of patients in the process of governing the organization. Participation in a coop means that membership is a shared responsibility – everybody is invited to become involved.

WHY DOES COMMUNITY ACUPUNCTURE NEED A COOPERATIVE?

• Acupuncture is important to our health – as individuals, families, co-workers, and community members – because it provides inexpensive, non-invasive relief from pain and suffering.

• Community Acupuncture defines and supports a mode of direct delivery of affordable care for people of ordinary incomes regardless of insurance coverage.

• Community Acupuncture provides a new model for healthcare and self-care empowerment.

• Community Acupuncture has at its heart a commitment to social justice and the deconstruction of barriers to care and resources.

• Community Acupuncture’s commitment to social justice is expressed in part by addressing specific barriers to accessing care and training in the field of acupuncture, namely cost.

• Community Acupuncture has created, just in the last 5 years, employment opportunities where there were none. However, because of the debt load that graduates bear coupled with the culture of the acupuncture profession, many of these positions have yet to be filled.

A COOPERATIVE WILL ADDRESS EXISTING NEEDS FOR:

• Proliferating and sustaining affordable acupuncture

• Offering affordable training and education for acupuncturists

• Articulating new paradigms of healthcare and health empowerment

• Growing vital local economies

• Creating social and financial capital – both in our local communities and within the community acupuncture movement

• Expanding into currently un-served communities

• Linking with other communities working for social justice

• Meeting the many needs of existing clinics: employees, micro-lending, training materials, personnel materials, managerial materials, mentoring, other hands-on support
  
  

WHY JOIN A COMMUNITY ACUPUNCTURE COOPERATIVE?

• Patient/Community member benefits: coop’s (vs. non-member) sliding-scale, 10^th tx free, special offers, initial fee waived at member clinics, three “Free Treatment” cards to share, newsletter, (poss. access to membership list for cross marketing purposes)

• Punk/Student member benefits: forum, employer support, collective buying power, LOC directory, low-interest loans, employment network (poss. malpractice ins.)

• Every Voice Matters—It starts with “how you feel” after coming for acupuncture—once, ten times, fifty times. When acupuncture is able to provide lasting relief from a problem or help to optimize one’s health, it is important to share this feedback with others. The riches of our collective knowledge are a valuable community resource. Sharing this resource by sharing our experiences will help to bring students, practitioners, patients, regulators, and others to the movement.

• Every Vote Matters—Individual coop members each have one vote in the decision-making processes that will define and guide the coop towards its stated goals. Annual elections for coop board members and specific projects are a shared responsibility of the membership. In this way, the accessibility and proliferation of an effective form of health care is directed by the very people the coop serves: its practioners, its patients, its community.

• Coming Together—we create mutually beneficial relationships where patient/community members can give hands-on support inside the clinic and out in the community. We continue our advocacy as patients and practitioners to bring affordable acupuncture to places where it is still needed. We manifest our vision of vital local economies and healthy, empowered communities of individuals. Through our collective resources, we create training and employment opportunities. Our collective voice speaks our purpose to the acupuncture profession, its regulatory bodies, and the health care field at large.

WHAT CAN I DO RIGHT NOW?

Watch the CAN blog for POCA updates

Raed POCA's mission and vision statements, and our goals and objectives.

Join POCA on Facebook (until the official POCA website launches, we hope in early May)

pocacoop@groups.facebook.com

Download and read “Solidarity as a Business Model” at www.uwcc.wisc.edu/pdf/multistakeholder%20coop%20manual.pdf

Community pitches in for local artist's medical bills

On Thursday Novmber 5th, , local artist and educator, Hope Rovelto was hit by a car crossing 2nd and Girard in Philadelphia. The accident left Hope with severe injuries to both her knees and since then Hope has had multiple surgeries and extended hospital admission.

The driver who hit Hope fled the scene.

Please support Hope by subscribing to this blog as there will be updates and news on fundraising events and ways you can support her recovery.

Please have a look at the beautiful work dozens of artists contributed to be sold at a January 30th fundraiser.

a piece on the state of community acupuncture by Larry Gatti

Great blog post from fellow acupunk in Tuscon, Arizona. Please read.

"People of ordinary income treating other people of ordinary income devoid of the idea of charity or philanthropy have together created a new culture. One that has at its root the principles and values of equality, access, social change and social justice. One that is willing to put the people first, always. One that is ready and willing to confront racism, classism, sexism and ableism. One that is both altering the current professional landscape while continually undergoing its own evolutionary process."

Classism in coverage of community acupuncture by New York Times

Community Acupuncture Network was mentioned in a New York Times article last week. Great. Except that it likened our services to chair massage (nothing wrong with chair massage) and said that our style of acupuncture was for problems that are not serious or complicated. Please read this letter to the author and editor written by C.A.N. founder, Lisa Rohleder.

Blog Post and video's about PCA

Here's a nice article from the blog, Philadelphia Neighborhoods, a publication of Temple University's Multimedia Urban Reporting lab.

New video intro to community acupuncture

Filmed largely at Turning Point Community Acupuncture in Frederick, Md., here's a great, 8 minute intro to what we're doing, and to the network we're a part of.

How to Stay Healthy During Cold and Flu Season (…or nip one in the bud if it starts!)

Article by acupuncturist, Rebecca Parker

When everyone around you is sniffling and coughing, you need a strategy. Here’s how to avoid getting sick:

Become obsessive about washing your hands. Especially before eating or when coming home from being out and about.
Get enough sleep! Can’t be overemphasized. 8-10 hours is best.
Eat clean (fruits, veggies, whole grains, good quality protein and fats) and limit alcohol. Keep sugar to a minimum, it’s been shown to depress the immune system for hours afterwards. Eat a serving of dark leafy veggies daily.
Take Yu Ping Feng San (Jade Windscreen Powder), which contains herbs like Astragalus to boost the immune system. Do not take this if you are already sick.
Take Vitamin D: the FDA says 2,000 ius is the safe upper limit, but this is very conservative. Darker skinned people and those who are obsessive about sunblock need more than lighter skinned people. Research shows that 10,000 ius can be safely taken daily. It is important for immune support, and can help prevent the flu. Go to vitamindcouncil.org to read up on this topic in more depth. The best thing to do if possible, is get your blood levels tested.
Exposing yourself to things you love or that create a good feeling can go a long way to boosting your immunity.

Pay attention to the warning signs!!! If you feel like you are going over the waterfall toward sickness and misery, take action right away. Now is the time to wipe it out.

Drink tons of water (no ice!) to flush it out.
Eliminate all sugar, alcohol and dairy. Soup is perfect food now.
Rest rest rest! Taking a little time off now could save you from days of incapacitation.
If you have a sore throat, gargle with salt water. Echinacea-goldenseal tincture is helpful when there seems to be drippy suppuration in the back of the throat. Do not take Echinacea if you think you have H1N1.
Take vitamin C. I like emergenC because it’s easy and tasty, though it does have sugar. A few thousand mg per day is good. Vitamin D is very important too. You can take a high dose (up to 50,000 iu) safely for short term. See the above section.
Zinc has been shown to limit the duration of illness. Take up to 50mg for just the duration of symptoms, not longer, or you can induce a mineral imbalance.
Sweat it out: take a hot bath, put on your warmest sweats and crawl under the covers. No need to drench the sheets, a light sheen will do the trick.
Take herbal formulas appropriate to the symptoms. For a hot-type sickness, with sore throat, and feverishness, Yin Qiao or Forsythia 18 helps in the very early days. For cold-types with head and body aches and chills, Gui Zhi Tang tea or ginger tea followed by wrapping up warm can really knock it out.
Protect your neck. Wear a scarf and keep your ears covered, avoid drafts and getting chilled.
Other products have worked well for people I know in the past, such as Wellness Formula and Alpha CF, but as with herbal formulas, there always seem to be exceptions to the rule. The best bet is to do everything you can to keep the bugs from getting a foothold instead of relying on one magic potion while you continue to abuse your body.
Stay away from orange juice. It creates phlegm.
Take responsibility for your health and go to a doctor if symptoms are severe and things seem to be getting worse despite all your actions.