NASH MEMBER UPDATE - JANUARY 2007

The North American Society of Homeopaths is dedicated to promote, represent and serve as the voice of all professional homeopaths in North America. NASH aims to develop and uphold the highest level of excellence in homeopathic practice while enhancing the role of the homeopathic profession as an integral part of health care delivery.

Board of Directors

President: Manfred Mueller, CA,
Email: homeopathicassociates@earthlink.net

Vice president: Kate Birch, MN,
Email:  Katebhom@yahoo.com

Treasurer: Julie Mann, CA,
Email:  ma13nn@aol.com

Registrar: Laura Sholtz, ME,
Email:  laurasremedies@hotmail.com

Secretary: Carleen Johnson, ME,
Email:  cjohnson@uninets.net

Canadian Representative: Basil Ziv, Ont.,
Email:  basilziv@rogers.com

Administrator: Liz Bonfig, FL,
Email:  nashinfo@aol.com, 954-749-9943

Annual Renewals

We apologize for the delay in the publication of volume 12 of The American Homeopath. We expect to have it delivered to you before month's end. As the renewal paperwork is being sent with the journal, we have revised the renewal due date to February 28, 2007.

We would like to thank our volunteers: those who have contributed many hours to the production of this edition of The American Homeopath, those who donate their time, as needed, to various committees and the volunteers on our Board, whose continuous donations of time make NASH a reality. We look forward to another great year!

School Membership/Student Liaison Project

Since introducing the School Membership level, we now have SIX schools that are registered with NASH. Since our last update, we are delighted to welcome:

• The British Institute of Homeopathy, New Jersey with student rep Linda Fiocco
• Homeopathy School of Colorado with student rep Dorothy Simoni

We have heard from other schools of their intent to join and we look forward to announcing them in our next update. Visit our website for current listings. Our membership drive continues thanks to the dedication and perseverance of associate member Rhonda Majalca.

The development of this project has begun to take form. The first teleconference with the registered schools’ student reps will be held on Tuesday, February 13, 2007. At this meeting we will discuss our purpose of continuous development of the homeopathic community. If you are a student at a school and would like to be a part of this project, please contact us. We have been gathering ideas and feedback from students at the registered schools via a student survey. The preliminary results of the surveys are as follows:

• Most students became interested in homeopathy because of personal referral and/or personal success story in their health or their family’s health
• Most students have a desire to help others
• Most students want to learn many different systems of thought in homeopathy, methodology, and practice philosophy
• Students want ways to promote homeopathy
• Respondents would like to know how to create a niche for homeopathy in the world at large
• Students want internships and mentorships: how to develop this?

The surveys also convey that there is a need to:

• create a database for members to be implemented on our website
• develop printed material about homeopathy
• develop audio material to be a part of our library
• develop PowerPoint presentations to download off the internet
• develop and expand Legislative understanding in the community of homeopaths and the society at large
• develop local clinics
• set up discounts for students on computer software
• provide help for setting up local conferences

The board will be developing an action plan to prioritize the various projects as well as to synchronize our efforts with other homeopathic organizations so that we are not duplicating efforts. As you all know the work for homeopaths to move our profession into the view of the general public must be a collective effort. All of these ideas generated must be backed by the willingness to participate in their execution.

NASH Website

One of our goals this past year was to further develop our website. Please take a moment to visit www.homeopathy.org and view the many improvements made thanks to associate member Ruth Pearson Smith. This past year we have added the following pages:

Teacher listing pages:
Our registered members who are also teachers have an opportunity to list their teaching credentials and topics or areas of homeopathy they teach. If you are a teacher and would like to be listed, please send your information to nashinfo@aol.com
(visit www.homeopathy.org for an example).

If you are available for internship or supervision, please let us know so we can add that to your profile. The financial arrangement you develop with prospective interns is at your discretion. You may list your terms of supervision and availability on the website.

School membership pages: This lists our member schools, their contact information and a link to their website.

NASH library: NASH has a library of audio tapes, CDs and VHS tapes from prior conferences and lectures. There is no fee to borrow; however, members must pay for shipping to and from the NASH office. These tapes are available for the purposes of fulfilling CEU requirements for registered members (a 300 word summary is required). One recorded seminar is equal to a one hour lecture.

Events calendar: We list major homeopathic events and contact info.

Pages/Sections to be added include:

• Frequently asked questions about homeopathy
• Members only section, including updates and other information
• Archives:
  • NASH letters of importance: Letters the board has written to various organizations for various causes
  • Previously published articles and essays from our members
  Legislative activities, by state or province, and supporting documents
• Links to homeopathic research information
• Downloadable promotional material for our members to use for the development of their practice
• Brochures
• Lectures
• Video presentations, PowerPoint presentations, etc.
• CHC preparatory study group listings
• Published Grievance Procedure (NASH Code of Ethics already available)

Member contributions:
Each NASH member in their own time has contributed enormous amounts of work to homeopathy for the sake of homeopathy. If you have any written items that you have developed, such as brochures, forms, marketing materials, presentations, etc., that you are willing to share with your fellow members, please send them to nashinfo@aol.com. They will be posted on the website in the near future.

Board Member Election

The 3 year terms for 4 of our board members will end with the year 2007. The positions of President, Vice-President and Secretary will be up for re-election. The position of Registrar is appointed by the Board.

Laura Sholtz, our current Registrar, was appointed in May of 2004, and has expressed interest to continue working on the NASH board for the next three years. We are happy to announce she will be reappointed for another 3-year term.

Election Committee Search
Since the terms of the elected officials will expire in Dec of 2007, we want to get the ball rolling early this year so we have a smoother transition of any new Board members. According to procedure, we must form a nominating committee consisting of three NASH members to facilitate the electoral process. The deadline for forming this committee is the weekend of the Joint American Annual Conference. If you would like to be on the nominating committee, please contact Manfred Mueller on/or before the annual meeting. All nominations for the Board must be Registered members of the Society.

Annual conference and meeting

The NCH will be sending you a brochure very soon. The NASH annual meeting is Friday, April 13th. The first hour, 12-1:00 pm, is for the board to meet with student reps, potential candidates for board positions and committee members. From 1-4 pm is the general meeting for the membership. An agenda for the annual meeting will be sent out in late February. If you would like to be on a committee, plan on attending the first hour of the meeting. We are looking to develop the following committees:

By-Law rewriting
Ethics
Website Development
Editorial Committee for the Journal
Fundraising
Public Relations
World Homeopathy Awareness Week

Monies for Legislative Activity

As you know, our treasurer, Julie Mann has done a wonderful job in bringing the NASH budget into balance. Our defense fund is over $28,000.00 and steadily rising due to membership contributions and debt repayment. Through various discussions we have considered how we can apply some of those funds to the development of the legal practice of homeopathy. To these ends, we have established a policy whereby registered members, who are actively introducing legislation to legitimize the practice of homeopathy in their state, can apply for funding to be allocated toward this effort. Interested parties are encouraged to contact the Board for guidelines on how your group might qualify for support.

Please send your donations for legislative action to our legal defense fund. We strongly encourage you to get involved in local health freedom legislative activities or to initiate them yourself. Please contact http://www.nationalhealthfreedom.org/ for groups in your area. Please feel free to contact our president Manfred Mueller to discuss your legislative bill proposals.

Welcome New and Returning Members

We are delighted to welcome to NASH the following new members:

Kristin Kreiger, CA - RSHom (NA)
John Badenhausen, MA - Associate
Khilda Spektor, NY - Student

and returning members:

Josee Bourbeau, NH - Associate
Maxwell Cotter, CA -Associate
William Giman, NJ - Associate
Valerie Lovelace, ME - Student
Dimitra Manesis-Naylor, MA - Student
Julia Wilber, OR - Associate
Leza Wimett, NM – Student

and newly registered:

Will Cassilly, CA – RSHom (NA)

Donations

A special thanks to new member Cristi Lewis for her generous donation to the NASH Foundation and to Austin Wells for his donation in honor of member Sandy Easter.

Thank you to the following members for their donation to Homeopaths without Borders: Robin Germain, Cristi Lewis, Dimitra Manesis-Naylor and Georgia Merfy.

Insurance

After a thorough review of the Allied Health Professional and Supplemental Liability Policy, we recommend you contact the Lockton Company directly for more information, www.ahc.lockton-ins.com/pl or 1-800-253-5486.

Voluntary Self-regulation of Homeopaths

The Grievance Procedure is an inherent and necessary part of voluntary self-regulation. Its purpose is to protect clients against unethical acts, negligence and incompetence of practitioners. It also protects practitioners from unfounded and frivolous charges made by clients. Its function, in such cases, is to prevent further escalation of conflicts and to help resolve them. An additional advantage of a Grievance Procedure is that complaints can be directed to where they should be resolved- instead of to the board of a competing and unsympathetic profession, such as a Medical Board, that may then use the complaint to pursue its own agenda.

Albany Law Review Article

John Lunstroth, LLM, MPH (2007) of the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health, Department of Socio-medical Sciences at the School of Public Health, Columbia University sent us the following article on Voluntary Self-Regulation with special emphasis on the homeopathic community. It was printed in the Dec 2006 issue (70:1 Albany Law Review), and now the article is online at the Albany Law Review. Follow the link to the abstract, where on the main page is a link to the entire article: www.albanylawreview.org/article.php?id=69 We very much appreciate Mr. Lunstroth's interests in the regulation of the homeopathic profession. Since its inception, one of the main functions of the North American Society of Homeopaths has been the voluntary self-regulation of our profession. We regret that John did not contact us before writing his article.

Report on Regulation of Homeopaths in Ontario

The Ontario government has introduced a bill that would impose statutory regulation on homeopathic practitioners and create a joint regulatory body for naturopaths and homeopaths. Many Ontario homeopaths feel that this legislation represents an undesirable shift in the status quo, that it will make it difficult or impossible for many homeopaths to continue serving their patients and clients. Some homeopaths have expressed reservations about being regulated along with the NDs and many have submitted their concerns to the Ontario government.

NASH President Manfred Mueller and Canadian Representative Basil Ziv have been in touch with the Ontario Ministry of Health and members of parliament to discuss the NASH model of voluntary self-regulation. In the past, lay homeopaths and professional homeopaths have greatly contributed to the advancement of homeopathy. NASH supports the preservation of a non-statutory practice model of classical homeopathy in Canada and the U.S. We feel that the NASH model of voluntary self-regulation will be preferable to government regulation in protecting consumers and in assuring continued access to homeopathic services.

We invite all Canadian homeopaths to join our efforts and become members of NASH. Please contact Basil Ziv or Manfred Mueller if you would like to help.

New Legislative Initiative in Hawaii

This year with the help of NASH, a Hawaii grassroots group will introduce a bill that would exempt unlicensed alternative healthcare practices from restrictions of the health profession’s licensing laws. NASH president Manfred Mueller and Francine Kanter, RSHom (NA) have been in touch with Sen. Hooser and Rep. Cindy Evans's office to discuss introducing a Health Freedom Act similar to the one introduced by Rep. Evans in both the House and Senate in 2004. Sen. Hooser has agreed to sponsor the bill in the Senate, and we hope Rep. Evans will join us and sponsor our bill in the House.

The deadline for the bill is January 23, 2007. We need your support.

Please contact Francine Kanter (frkanter@aol.com ) or Manfred Mueller (homeopathicassociates@earthlink.net), if you would like to help.

Correction Regarding the NASH News flash

We retract the statement "The only way you legally can practice in Florida is to say you are a consultant making recommendations and providing education for homeopathic remedies with regard to specific health conditions, but you cannot diagnose, prescribe or administer remedies."

We recommend that if you are concerned about the legality of your practice that you become familiar with the laws in your province or state.