The BHMA believes that the following core values underpin holistic practice and that the above approaches require us to incorporate the following values in our daily lives whether as practitioners or patients:

• compassion: being kind and caring towards others
• respect: taking into account people’s ideas, feelings and relationships
• open-mindedness: healthcare needs many good ways of being and doing
• competence: committed to ongoing professional and personal development
• self-care: looking after ourselves to become healthy citizens and effective practitioner

The BHMA will:

• champion whole person approaches, especially within the NHS
• advocate ways to incorporate holism into healthcare organisations
• promote awareness of our self-healing capacity
• work with like-minded organisations to create healthy environments
• encourage research that seeks a holistic understanding of health and healing
• support healthcare workers to maintain their own health and well-being.

Conferences and other events provide an important opportunity for like-minded people to connect with each other face to face and the BHMA will increasingly create these opportunities to bring people together. For further details of these opportunities please visit the Events Calendar

The Association is interested in supporting participative approaches to research and training. Collaboration with like-minded organisations will look into ways the Association can achieve this aim.