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OUTSIDE WORLD, RESEARCH and REGULATION.

We all know that shiatsu is based on an entirely different world view from that prevailing in Europe. But we practice our shiatsu in country specific cultural, political and legal contexts. In the U.K. for example there is the most widespread public use and support, an underlying cultural attitude of freedom of expression and action, an enabling legal structure and a supportive, almost nourishing, political policy across party lines. In Germany, however, the freedom is more covert. It is not open to say we diagnose, and the ownership of healthcare is more institutionally and legally controlled.

The most significant feature of the political aspect of our contexts of practice is that in several European countries a process of formal State regulation has begun since the adoption of the Lannoye Report by the European Parliament in 1997. Furtermore, in every case bar one this is primarily influenced by medical approaches and the medical powers, (Examples: Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland). So, we urgently need now to produce a body of evidence to illustrate objectively that shiatsu is an art for the promotion of human wellbeing, that has significant capacity to influence health and illness, but is not a medical practice. This is the primary reason why the E.S.F. has developed this research initiative, and what it is all about.

In the shiatsu community we largely see ourselves as separate, even outsiders, in the larger community. We are different, for sure, and our particular difference is our core strength, which it is our first responsibility to protect, but we are still part of the larger community. Whether we realise it or not it is this larger community that gives us the permission to do shiatsu here, here in Germany, in Switzerland, Ireland, everywhere. The amount of permission, the quality of permission are determined by the cultural, political and legal forces and it may be direct or indirect to different degrees. We fail to honour our role, take our rightful place and respect the community we work in while we consciously or unconsciously ignore the permission of the larger community. The awakening of the political system to shiatsu means that the a change is being sought in the social and cultural contexts, in the amount and quality of permission. The political process is the way this is done in the public domain and on behalf of the larger community. It is called regulation. What it is doing is calling on us to redefine our place in, and our relationships within the larger community. It is calling on us to look outside of ourselves. We really have no choice but to respond to this if we want to continue to practice professionally and on terms favourable to us.

The first thing the process of regulation wants is to know what do we do and if it is safe? The first and primary objective of the E.S.F's research project is to study the user profile and the benefits of shiatsu across 9 european countries and to establish that it is a safe practice.

THE PROCESS OF REGULATION.
SAFETY.

The first and most important criterion for official recognition and consequential integration is the establishment of safety. Shiatsu is such a gentle and caring art that to Practitioners and receivers who take its safety as a matter of fact, once a small number of uncomplicated circumstances are taken into account, this would appear simple to do. However, all we have currently to demonstrate this is our own experience, anecdotal evidence, and the absence of prosecuted claims against us. These are valid and reliable as far as they go, but they are not convincing in an objective sense. They cannot meet the needs and requirements of those who have a responsibility in law to ensure as far as is reasonably possible that non-conventional health-care methods are safe.

In the current political context the question of safety is not a simple matter. Public safety and consumer protection have recently become priority political issues. This is as a result, inter alia, of recent food scandals in Belgium and France, the ongoing controversy about genetically modified foods, contaminated blood products, and on foot of the BSE scare before that. In Germany issues of public health were a significant factor in the election of the Greens to government last year.May I invite you too to examine the statements of politicians and doctors here when they speak of complementary therapies. You will find that they are always about safety and effectiveness (with the doctors also about control).

People’s health is the one issue where public concern and opinion can match and even overcome the power of commercial vested interests. Witness the fall of the Belgian Government last year and, for example, the ban on British beef before that. In response to such events the E.U. has just created a separate Directorate with responsibility for health and consumer protection with, for the first time, a Commissioner with sole responsibility for this area. The President of the newly elected European Parliament has stated that health and consumer protection will, along with unemployment, be the number one issue of this Parliament for the next 5 years. The values and modus operandi of the European Institutions and National Governments and Agencies are such that legal recognition will not even be considered without scientific support for Shiatsu. But for the first time ever we can now apply to the E.U. for funds for such research.

There is no doubt, therefore, that the first thing in the regulators’ minds will be safety. When it comes to actual regulation the officials will seek scientific evidence, the opinion of " experts”, and the professionalism of Practitioners to satisfy themselves that Shiatsu is a safe practice. The "experts” may or may not be knowledgeable or favourable to Shiatsu, but the evidence of independent research will stand on its own merits. At the end of the day reputable research will be our best spokesperson. There is no chance of favourable regulation nationally or in the E.U. without it.