What is the significance of Dr. A.T. Still’s principles and philosophy in the work of Austrian osteopaths today?
Item
- Title
- What is the significance of Dr. A.T. Still’s principles and philosophy in the work of Austrian osteopaths today?
- Title
- Welchen Stellenwert haben Dr. A.T. Stills Prinzipien und Philosophie heute in Österreich in der Arbeit von OsteopathInnen?
- Author(s)
- Holzheu Natascha
- Abstract
-
To answer this question I have chosen the method of a quantitative survey based on a questionnaire, which was sent to osteopathic students in the sixth year of study, osteopaths with the final clinical examination and osteopaths with the degree D.O. of the Vienna School of Osteopathy (WSO).
162 osteopaths (66% return rate) filled in the questionnaire.
The main questions were:
Are Dr. Still’s principles and philosophies still relevant today, 132 years after he raised the banner of osteopathy on June 22, 1874 – and are they still applied by osteopaths in their work with patients?
The results of my master thesis show that the philosophy and principles of Still are very important for Austrian osteopaths today.
The majority of osteopaths study the principles of Dr. Still, agree with them and integrate them in their osteopathic work.
Nevertheless, the osteopaths’ attitude toward conventional medicine and its use of medications has changed since the time of Dr. Still. Osteopaths today are more open towards conventional medicine and they also respect its progresses. Medications are not completely rejected anymore.
While Dr. Still defined osteopathy as independent form of medicine and completely rejected allopathic medicine, osteopaths today see their work as an addition, a complement to allopathy, which is corroborated by the fact that 61% see osteopathy as a form of complementary medicine.
This result is very important for policy decisions regarding the profession, since the osteopathic profession in Austria is not yet integrated in the health care system and is not regulated by law. Therefore the osteopaths’ position towards conventional medicine will be an important issue in the future.
Keywords: Still, Philosophy, Principles, quantitative survey, questionnaire - Abstract
- presented at
- Wiener Schule für Osteopathie
- Date Accepted
- 2007
- Date Submitted
- 1.3.2007 00:00:00
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 13521
- Inst-Identifier
- 781
- Keywords
- Still A T,Philosophy
- Recommended
- 0
- Medium
- Holzheu_engl.pdf
- Item sets
- Thesis
- Media
- Holzheu_engl.pdf
Holzheu Natascha, “What is the significance of Dr. A.T. Still’s principles and philosophy in the work of Austrian osteopaths today?”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 5, 2025, https://www.osteopathicresearch.org/s/orw/item/2991