Utilizing Research

Moderated by Sr. Alice Holden

Summary submitted by Diana Welsh-Durkin and Debbie Cole

Saturday dawned with a concentrated conference agenda. Presentations which addressed the body, mind and spirit were offered and graciously received. Then the time came for all conference participants to call upon the Light at the Top of the Head and Light at the Temple.

After Roberta Taggert’s impressive work regarding “UCLA Research Updates,” an open floor discussion ensued. Topic: “Utilizing Research” moderated by Sister Alice Holden. Many suggestions were offered concerning the dissemination of research material available at this time. Three main research topics/articles were discussed:

1. UCLA Research

2. Wall Street Journal follow-up

3. Prevention Magazine, Rodale Press, April issue, 2004, page 91

Suggestions included:

1. Presenting legible and professional copies of above materials to medical doctors and health care professionals

2. Presenting legible and professional copies to insurance companies (New Mexico’s Blue Cross/Blue Shield is considering coverage for T’ai Chi Chih classes as preventative, or as prevention, of more serious health related issues.)

3. Observation that two studies (rather than one) hold more clout in the medical and insurance world.

4. Accessibility of said studies by linking to related websites; e.g. Prevention; Psychosomatic Studies

5. Teachers involved in health care, hospital, and university systems should consider developing and writing articles for above publications with clear, detailed testimonials of students

6. Utilizing graduate students wishing to conduct research or looking for research opportunities

• Janet Oussaty, a teacher from New Jersey involved in a university, can provide assistance in how to work with higher learning institutions.

• Bonnie Sokolov, a Rochester Minnesota teacher, has the Mayo Clinic almost in her back yard. Bonnie has given herself the 12-month mission of inviting the Mayo Clinic to revisit their past endorsements of T’ai Chi Chih and Justin Stone’s video.

• Sister Antonia Cooper suggested a compilation/collation of all research materials related to Tai Chi Chih for easy access by teachers.

• Dr. Irwin, lead doctor of the UCLA research, has given permission for any T’ai Chi Chih teacher to use research findings

• We can all help by documenting student comments. To be most useful, those comments would be specific, quantifiable remarks about their emotional or mental health being improved. Some teachers hand out self-evaluation forms at the beginning of a class series and then follow up at the end with another self-evaluation, allowing a comparison of how the questions were answered (e.g. How stressed are you?). Another helpful resource would be the guidelines that Hannah Hedrick suggests in her article about how to approach healthcare facilities to offer TCC classes (VFJ June 2001).

• One teacher expressed frustration regarding unprinted information submitted four years ago to the Vital Force Journal involving an informal study of T’ai Chi Chih and congestive heart failure in conjunction with a Cincinnati hospital.

• The discussion ended with Sr. Alice Holden endorsing the need for personal accountability by the teaching community in order to bring all of this to fruition.