In 2007, to help educate the American public on what the US health care system should be offering its constituents, The Bravewell Collaborative membership translated the Declaration for a New Medicine into a Patient’s Bill of Rights.
As an individual, you have:
- The right to person-centered care.
- The right to receive health care that addresses the wholeness of who you are—body, mind and spirit in the context of community.
- The right to a health care system that focuses on prevention and wellness.
- The right to be empowered as the responsible, central actor in your own healing.
- The right to education about self-care that includes access to scientifically-based nutrition, exercise and mind-body interventions.
- The right to a healing relationship with your health care provider that is grounded in humanism, compassion and caring.
- The right to speak openly and honestly with your health care providers and in return, to experience honest and supportive communications from all members of the health care community.
- The right to a health care environment that recognizes that to be healing and empowering, health care providers themselves must seek to be restored and whole.
- The right to embrace the spiritual dimension in the context of your health care.
- The right to health care providers who understand that integrity and spiritual qualities are as important as medical knowledge and technical skills in the process of healing.
- The right to a truly integrative medicine that is supported by rigorous scientific research, maintains the highest standards of excellence, and offers a full and complete array of care modalities.
- The right to healing even when there is no cure.
- The right to be whole.
