The ATP Story

by Gord Grant PhD, RAc This is the story of how we got started. It is about what we stand for, and how we discovered what we needed to do to best serve those who walk through our doors.  It is about realizing we needed to slow things down and pay better attention, being present with each client, to do our best job.  But it was also about making acupuncture…

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How did community acupuncture come to Edmonton? The ATP Story part 4

by Gord Grant PhD, RAc Community acupuncture has been practiced intermittently in Edmonton over the last 10 or so years.  As a free inner city clinic at Boyle McCauley Health Centre, the Grant MacEwan Acupuncture Program was involved here to administer the “NADA” ear acupuncture protocol to people addicted to drugs as they try to come off their addiction.  Five years ago, I offered several community clinics at a church…

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We do it for our cars! So, why not for our body?

The Acupuncture Turning Point collaborates with Nicole and Len, owners of Breathe Fitness, to help our clients be at their best. Go to the Breathe Fitness website to find out more… by Nicole Lark BHK, PTS, TSCC-3 I like to use the analogy of our body being similar to a car.  Our heart is the engine, our food is the gas, and we have multiple gears where we can ‘shift’…

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Current trends with insurance and acupuncture

by Gord Grant PhD, RAc Alberta healthcare does not cover acupuncture yet.  However, many private healthcare plans offer acupuncture-specific annual allocations, usually around $500 or so, or a health spending account which can be used to reimburse part or all the costs of acupuncture. Recently in 2010, the BC ministry of health decided to reimburse up to $23 per visit for acupuncture for a combined annual limit of 10 visits…

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Hidden Gems

The Acupuncture Turning Point collaborates with Nicole and Len, owners of Breathe Fitness, to help our clients be at their best. Go to the Breathe Fitness website to find out more… by Len Panchuk, MSc, PTS of Breathe Fitness Living just a few blocks away from the Mill Creek Ravine affords an access point to our extensive and nearly continuous trail system here in Edmonton.  Staying right in the ravine…

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Community acupuncture catches on in the USA with POCA

by Gord Grant PhD, RAc The idea of community acupuncture has really grown in the United States over the last decade.  I think this is because, unlike Canadians, American’s have less access to affordable primary care.  Community acupuncture seems to have filled a specific need in the US where people can look after their ailments more affordably and proactively.  More and more are routinely using acupuncture for prevention and relaxation…

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Roots of community acupuncture in China: moving Qi, but more!

by Gord Grant PhD, RAc In China, acupuncture was and still is practiced commonly in a group setting. On the way home after work or on your day off, you see the acupuncturist for a weekly tune-up.  Here treatments are performed efficiently on people in a group setting, sitting in chairs or lying down on tables, sometimes with drapes between, sometimes not. The origins of Chinese medicine  are founded in…

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Low back pain? – sit it away (with a wedge)!

by Carl Parnham RMT How many of you out there are stuck at a computer desk all day? I bet you have back problems right? Do you feel like sitting too long is hindering your every day life? Now you hurt so much that, even if you wanted to exercise more, it hurts too much to try? I know, I know…I shouldn’t be using a laptop like this; but no…

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“Cost: A big limitation of private acupuncture treatments… the ATP story part 3”

by Gord Grant PhD, RAc This is the next article in a series about ATP’s “turning points”.  I have described the beginning of our story – go here to read the series.  Our original dilemma was presented in the choice between offering clients a dedicated one-on-one service or a more cost-efficient multiple client model, in which  people are treated simultaneously in separate rooms in quick succession.  In these dedicated private…

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A healthcare dilemma: process efficiency or client’s needs first? The ATP story-part 2

by Gord Grant PhD, RAc This is the second part of a series that describes ATP’s “turning points”  — it’s about my insights along the way as we have engaged and participated with our clients in caring for their health.  Last time I introduced the idea of community acupuncture and how it is now integrated into the culture at ATP.  I see it not only as an alternative, but also…

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