Not every treatment for what ails someone will work for the next person, and the treatment that helped you the most might not help someone else. That's why Sana Keller, integrative health consultant for Health Unlimited, Minot, focuses on a treatment plan that helps treats every person on an individualized basis.
Keller offers consulting services involving integrative health and medicine for people wanting to feel better, maintain health or for cancer survivors. Integrated health takes the best of Western medicine and pulls together other treatments, Keller said. It looks at the big picture that includes all the symptoms a person is experiencing, she explained, eating and snacking habits, sleep quality and amount, stress levels, current medicines, current nutritional supplements, exercise type and amount, caffeine intake, water intake, health history, family history and major health concerns for that person. Analyzing all that data together leads to specific health recommendations with a goal of optimal long-term health and the recommendations are reviewed with the client and with their health care provider. Keller said it's very research-based and puts clients' and physicians' minds at ease because the research can provide solid information.
In her consulting services, Keller works with clients who are interested in looking for more natural ways to help them feel better and maintain health and also works with cancer survivors. There are many safe and clinically based ways of treating situations, Keller noted. Everyone is different, methods are individualized and it's finding what is best for them, she added.
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Sana Keller, integrative health consultant for Health Unlimited, pages through one of her books that her clients will probably read. Keller works with clients who are interested in more natural ways to help them feel better or maintain health. She also works with cancer survivors.
Integrative health and medicine is geared for any age. Keller said she works with kids, elderly people and has recently been asked if she would work with couples. "It truly is for everyone," she said.
Keller and her clients come up with a workable time frame for consultation sessions. Sometimes they'll meet at Keller's home office, at the client's home or at the office of the client's physician after an appointment. People interested in contacting Keller can call her at 420-9853; send her a message through her website at (www.healthunlimited.biz); or email her at kellersana@gmail.com. Her office is located at 1705-31st Ave. SE.
The first consultation typically consists of a questionnaire, personalized analysis with nutritional and lifestyle recommendations, and then the questionnaire is reviewed with the client in detail. The more detailed the client fills out the questionnaire, the more accurate help can be provided, Keller noted. Also involved in the consultation is ongoing follow-up support and the client is encouraged to review the analysis with their health care provider. Referrals are provided upon request for various integrative therapies.
Cost for the initial consultation is $100 for one hour, which includes review of the questionnaire and analysis. Follow-up appointments are $50 for 30 minutes and include progress tracking, course correction and updated recommendations. There are also different package options available, such as introductory offers.
Keller became interested in the integrative health field through her years of working in acute care and was later introduced to the wellness side of medicine. When working as a wound care nurse, she said it didn't matter what kind of dressing you put on the wound, but the cause of the wound needed to be addressed in order to help in the long term. That had a big impact on her, Keller remarked. Keller said she also had a few friends diagnosed with cancers and walked with them through their journeys. Her friends all had gone through the alternative treatment options.
Keller began her career in nursing in 1981 and then changed her focus to wellness in 1997, providing wellness education sessions to groups and individuals. She then started an independent integrative health consulting practice and has been involved in that for a year.
"I don't offer advice unless I'm asked for it, though," she noted.
Integrative health is educational at this point, Keller said, because most people don't know what it means. "It's not an either or situation," she pointed out, so people don't have to choose between traditional or alternative options. "It's a team approach," Keller added.
There are many rewards for Keller in her consulting practice, the most rewarding being when she receives calls or emails from clients telling her their good reports or when they tell her how they feel in charge of their health.
"That's way cool," she said.