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The Aurum Project’s 2020 Homeopathy Research Opportunities Round Up

Annus Horribilis or Annus Opportunitus?

We couldn’t have any physical meetup events this year and for a few months we had to work from home, but that has not stopped The Aurum Project.  The homeopathy research opportunities are bubbling and we are powered up.

Our glorious members

We have been so impressed with our members during 2020.  Many have adapted their clinics online and lots are seeing the international benefits of this.  They continue to support The Aurum Project, by renewing their annual membership despite adversities and they have been even more involved in our research projects.  Some of which you can find out more about in this blog.

WebinarsThe Future of Homeopathy Research and The Aurum Project

In August, Linlee Jordan (Director of The Aurum Project) and Dr Celeste Salter (The Aurum Project’s Research Co-ordinator) spoke on a “I Love Homeopathy” podcast: “In a country where authorities actively do not support homeopathy, The Aurum Project for Australian homeopathy research has gone from strength to strength. How did they do it?”  Linlee and Celeste discussed the “secrets” of The Aurum Project.  This was also live streamed on Facebook. 

On September 6th Linlee Jordan and Gabrielle Brodie (a member of The Aurum Project’s research team) presented Australian research in a panel discussion. The twofold objectives of this discussion were: to bridge the gap between clinical practice and research, and to stimulate and generate interest in homeopathic research. 

We emphasised how the results from the 1st National Survey show the health areas in which the Australian population uses homeopathy.   The outcome is an insight into what we do as homeopaths and who we see. We showed how relatively easy it is to get involved and build homeopathic research despite the barriers around us.

Collaborations

The Society of Homeopaths (UK)

The Aurum Project met with The Society of Homeopaths (UK) research committee to see how we could establish a relationship and conduct research projects together. Sabina Vatter is the Research Integrity Officer for The Aurum Project and also an SOH member and suggested “Let’s meet up and see where we can work together!. It was that simple.

Joint project between The Aurum Project and Dr Sujata Naik’s Homeopathy Clinic

This new project is in its formative stages. We are currently seeking interested homeopath practitioners/researchers to take part in expanding the knowledge base for the homeopathic treatment of skin conditions.  Two possible areas of exploration, molluscum contagiosum or fungal skin infections resistant to other forms of treatment have been identified, and are seen in Dr Sujata’s clinic on a regular basis. With this project, we aim to build the skills and abilities of both groups to produce high quality research of benefit to the homeopathy community and patients everywhere.

The Aurum Project is committed to enhancing the role of homeopathy in Australia by facilitating research activity in Australia, building the evidence base for homeopathy’s effectiveness as a treatment option.  Dr Sujata Naik’s clinic is committed to the practice and research of homeopathy and expanding the reach of homeopathy into every strata of society.  We are very excited to be building this research relationship and possibility between Australia and India

Newsletter Subscriber Growth and Aurum Project Blogs 

The Aurum Project newsletter subscribers has grown by 50% in 2020.  This gives us a much bigger voice and more opportunity to develop our research projects and funding.  During the NSW, Australia lockdown and Winter months, there was a huge spike in the number of people visiting The Aurum Project website. The graphs below from Google analytics illustrates this.

 

The Aurum Project Homeopathy Research and a Spike in Google Searches

We achieved position 6 in the Top 40 Homeopathy Blogs – globally.

Top Homeopathy Blogs

The following Blogs were among the most popular: 

Studying Homeopathy at Meet-Ups in India: Sahya Sagaram, Written by Aurum project Gold Member, Agi Mary Joseph 

Studying Homeopathy in India Aurum project Blog

Vitiligo in a four year old girl disappears with homeopathy

Homeopathy research and Vitiligo Aurum project blog

Published ArticlesAurum Project article Homeopathy Research shows Mental Health top reason to visit a homeopath Australia

We were delighted to have an article published in the Winter edition of Similia: RESULTS & ANALYSIS OF FIRST NATIONAL PRACTICE SURVEY  The AHA has kindly permitted us to make this available to the general public.  You can download the article HERE.   

 

We also received press coverage of this in the Indian Sun published in Melbourne on 27th July: Mental health top reason for visiting a Homeopath new survey reveals.  You can view the article HERE. 

Revamp of our website

We have significantly improved the Aurum Project website this year.  It is now fresher, tidier, and hosts a wealth of resources and research information. Everything you ever needed to know or wanted to know about The Aurum Project is easily found.  We’ve received some very positive feedback from our members.

It is extremely important to have an online voice so that stakeholders such as researchers, donors, grant providers, industry leaders, members, and potential members can see the standard of excellence our research is reaching. 

Research Projects in the Pipeline

Over the last year, The Aurum Project has been quietly undertaking quite a few projects.  Several of our projects are bubbling away in the background.  Here is what is happening and with who:

1) Mental health and homeopathy (with David Levy and Celeste Salter)

2) How to build a research community from the ground up (with Sunny Goddard and Celeste Salter)

3) A systematic review of Australian Homeopathy Research (with Sabina Vatter, Linlee Jordan and Celeste Salter)

4) The initial research POD project is evolving around the topic of urinary tract infections (with Sarah Penrose, Ash Ashrafi, Sunny Goddard, Sabina Vatter and Andrew Samson)

Research Melting Pots

The Aurum Project is hosting a weekly one-hour session specifically devoted to the Australian and New Zealand students completing the  CHE (Centre for Homeopathic Education) conversion course upgrade to a Bachelor of Science (Homeopathy). We have a strong membership keen on research, supporting it, getting involved, making it happen. This melting pot is literally a space for that “something” to happen. Research rarely occurs in a vacuum.There is always a dialogue, a process, an evolution of ideas, relationships and thinking. And in a melting pod creativity can thrive. We also believe that the students (who are already practitioners) are as important to our profession as the research ideas they may develop. Research pods are a way of supporting both our practitioners as well as build our research capacity.

The Aurum Project’s aim is that through this melting pod, the student’s project proposals can be converted into projects where our community has the capacity to undertake them. We also know that many of the AP members are keen to offer their support for Australian research activity in ways we have not tapped into yet. 

Improved Research Resources

During the year The Aurum Project published their research protocols with acknowledgement and adaptation of the Australian Code for The Responsible Conduct of Research 2018, published by the NHMRC.  We have also become a REDCap partner. REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases. This enables The Aurum Project  to undertake research activities in a secure fashion, keeping patient and practitioner data safe. 

Together we learn. It was David Levy (Advisor to The AP, and AP Member) who shared knowledge of this tool to help further develop our research activities.  Sabina Vatter’s (AP Member and Research Team Member) recent experience in Systematic Review has allowed us to start filling the gap on what is Australian Homeopathy research. It gives us great strength to have our members are sharing their insights, knowledge, and skills with us – to further our research capacity.

Connecting Homeopaths Connecting Homeopaths Meet up online

Facilitated by The Aurum Project and Homeopath, Sunny Goddard, Connecting Homeopaths is an online space where homeopaths and students can gather together to listen and share their stories, exchange information and provide a regular get-together for practitioners in a profession which is typically pretty isolated individualised practice. The intention is also to generate a resilient community, collaborate and build capacity within the homeopathic profession of Australia.

During the Covid experience, Connecting Homeopaths has been running every two weeks in order to provide any additional support and to make it a more regular routine.  This has been extremely popular.

Find out more about Connecting Homeopaths HERE

Free Downloads for Members in 2020

52 Week Inspirational Social Media Post Planner for Health Practitioners 

We have created this planner to support our members in building their practices.  It aims to give you confidence and inspiration in your weekly posts. To build your online followers it’s important to communicate regularly. It shouldn’t be all about selling your services / products. In fact, more of the posts should be about who you are. Building rapport with your client base, not only emphasises your expertise, but also provides a human element to your brand / practice. Thus you can maintain current relationships and build new relationships with potential new clients before meeting them.

Connecting Homeopaths 

This reflective article outlines the social conditions in Australia that lead to the development of an online support forum for homeopaths. Recognition of health professionals as being a type of community provided a context to apply relevant theories and recognised practices to offer support to homeopaths during a difficult time. The article outlines methodology guidelines and shares the impact of this initiative on participants. DOWNLOAD HERE

Results & Analysis of First Australian National Practice Survey  

While the research team for the First National Survey of Homoeopaths in Australia would like to bring encouraging news about the state of homoeopathic practice, the news is dire. The profession is aging and vulnerable to extinction. It needs to put in place measures to ensure sustainability through education, research, training, and professional cohesion.

This National Survey does provide some good news. It shows the support we are providing in our communities. Baseline data are now available for homoeopaths and patient demographics in Australia. We can see ‘who we are, where we are,’ and ‘how we are’ supporting the health needs of our community. Homoeopaths see patients of all ages from birth to their late 80s. The health needs of our community are supported in areas spanning mental health, general needs, gastrointestinal and skin conditions. The core issue is sustainability.

Australian Research Priorities in Homeopathy 2018 -2024 

In 2020, we continued to review and update the Research Priorities set in 2019. As a principal stakeholder in Australian homeopathy research we host and facilitate the working group on behalf of the Australian homeopathy community. Our current partners in setting these directions, which are focussed on building our research capacity, are AHA, ARoH, HERA, GHF Australia, Owen Homeopathics, and Be Wellness. We welcome others to join us in this endeavour.

Research into Homeopathy (2020) Author: Robert Medhurst BNat ND DHom

While it may be interesting to speculate on why the governments of certain countries and the various critics of homeopathy can’t appear to find any good evidence for it, the simple fact is that evidence does exist, it’s easy to find, and it’s abundant.

This article contains summaries of most of the peer-reviewed research on homeopathy that’s been published up to February 2020. It contains 558 abstracts from human, animal, plant and in-vitro scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals that attest to the reality that there is a wealth of well-constructed objective evidence that confirms a positive effect from interventions using homeopathy.

Supporting The Aurum Project and our Homeopathy Research Opportunities

The first step is to become a member. This is by far the best starting point of support.  It provides us with the opportunity to open conversations with you about the research projects we are involved in and how you may be able to get involved.  If you have no desire to carry out any research you can still remain up to date with what we are working on.

Then, contact The Aurum Project’s Research Co-ordinator, Celeste Salter to talk about how you can get involved with our research projects.

To read the round up from year end 2019 please click here

Since you’re here…

More people than ever before are reading the Aurum Project blog. There is currently a surge of interest in natural therapies research. If you want to find out more about the latest cutting-edge natural medicine research and homeopathy news from Australia and the world, sign up to our newsletter. You won’t regret it. It will only take a minute. Thank you. Click here to subscribe today.

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