Proverbs on Wealth - the Rich, the Poor, the Greedy, the Needy...

In every day and age, it is worth receiving wisdom and guidance on wealth – and what God has to say about the rich, the poor, the wicked, the greedy, the needy, righteous behavior, and consequences of our actions. Check out the following selected verses from the Book of Proverbs in the Bible:

Proverbs 3:¹³ Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding,
¹⁴ for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.
¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.

Proverbs 14:²⁰ The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.

Proverbs 14:²¹ It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor, but blessed is the one who is kind to the poor and needy.

Proverbs 14:³¹ Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Proverbs 15:⁶ The house of the righteous contains great treasure, but the income of the wicked brings ruin.

Proverbs 16:⁸ Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.

Proverbs 17:²³ The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice.

Proverbs 18:²³ The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.

Proverbs 19:¹⁷ Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.

Proverbs 21:¹³ Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.

Proverbs 22:¹ A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

Proverbs 22:² Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all.

Proverbs 22:¹⁶ One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty.

Proverbs 22:²² Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court,  ²³ for the LORD will take up their case and will exact life for life.

Proverbs 28:³ A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.

Proverbs 28:⁶ Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.

Proverbs 28:¹¹ The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.

Proverbs 28:²⁰ A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 28:²⁵ The greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the LORD will prosper.

Proverbs 28:²⁷ Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

Proverbs 29:⁴ By justice a king gives a country stability, but those who are greedy for bribes tear it down.

Proverbs 31:⁸ Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. ⁹ Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Book of Proverbs on Wisdom

For many years, I avoided reading the Book of Proverbs in the Bible for some reason. But one day, while watching my kids at basketball practice, I picked up my Bible and opened it to Proverbs and began reading it. Wow! Many years have since passed and I still find this to be one of the most interesting and instructive books - one that I believe everyone should read and carefully study.

The Book of Proverbs raises questions of values, moral behaviour, the meaning of human life, and right conduct. The repeated theme is that ‘submission to the will of God is the beginning of attaining wisdom.’ In turn, Wisdom involves the ability to think and act wisely using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight.

Check out the following selected excerpts from the Book of Proverbs about Wisdom:

The wise and their rewards

3:35     The wise inherit honor, but fools He holds up to shame.
9:12     If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you;
24:5     A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength;

The wise and instruction

9:8       Rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
9:9       Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
13:14   The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

The wise and their parents

10:1     A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.
13:1     A wise son/daughter heeds their father's instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.
15:20   A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
10:5     He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.

The wise and their speech

10:19   When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
12:18   Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
14:3     A fool's talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them.
15:7     The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.
16:23   A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction.
29:11   A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.

The wise versus fools

10:14   Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
12:15   The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.
13:20   He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
14:1     The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
14:16   A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.
21:20   In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.

The wise and leadership

10:8     The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.
14:35   A king delights in a wise servant, but a shameful servant incurs his wrath.
16:14   A king's wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will appease it.
20:26   A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them.
29:8     Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger.

Whether you are a religious person or not, I highly recommend you take the time to read the Book of Proverbs.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Integrative Medicine

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not widely accepted within the realm of conventional medicine. Yet, consumers have increasingly turned to CAM treatments and solutions in order to enhance their health and well-being. CAM includes acupuncture, chiropractic medicine, osteopathic medicine, homeotherapy, use of natural herbal remedies and other practices to augment conventional medical treatments. The marketplace continues to reflect the growing acceptance of complementary medicine by many patients and a growing number of health care providers.

In this article, the author advocates developing and further integrating CAM software modules and data into today's electronic health record (EHR) and personal health record (PHR) systems. By gathering and integrating health care information associated with the application of CAM treatments into a patient's electronic medical record, more accurate measurement of outcomes can be generated. Best practices can then emerge showing which CAM practices are most effective when used by themselves or coupled with conventional medical treatments for specific disorders.

Definitions Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) includes a broad domain of healing resources that encompasses all health systems, modalities, and practices and their accompanying theories and beliefs that are often not embraced by conventional, mainstream medicine. CAM therapies are called Complementary when they are used in addition to conventional medical treatments. They are termed as Alternative when they are used instead of conventional treatment. Integrative Medicine, as defined by National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health (NCCIH), combines mainstream medical therapies and Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) practices for which there is some high-quality scientific evidence on the safety, effectiveness, and outcomes associated with these treatments.

Major Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) Categories

The National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health (NCCIH) classifies most complementary and alternative medical products and activities into one of three subgroups—Natural Products, Mind & Body Practices, and Other CAM Therapies.

Natural Products

This subgroup includes a variety of products, such as herbs, vitamins and minerals, and probiotics. They are widely marketed, readily available to consumers, and often sold as dietary supplements.

Mind & Body Practices

Mind and body practices include a large and diverse group of procedures or techniques administered or taught by a trained practitioner or teacher. The 2012 NHIS showed that yoga, chiropractic manipulation, osteopathy, meditation, and massage therapy are among the most popular mind and body practices used by adults. Other mind and body practices include acupuncture, relaxation techniques, tai chi, healing touch, hypnotherapy, and other movement therapies

Other CAM Therapies

In addition to the two broad areas discussed above, there are some some approaches that do not fit neatly into either of those groups. These other practices include traditional healers, Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathy, and naturopathy.

Statistics on CAM Therapy Usage

The following are the 10 most commonly used Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies in the US according to a 2012 report published by NCCAM. The report shows that use of CAM has continued to hold steady at over 33% of American adults receiving these treatments.

• Herbalism & Natural Products (17.7%)
• Deep Breathing (10.9%)
• Yoga & Tai Chi (10.1%)
• Chiropractic & Osteopathic (8.4%)
• Meditation (8.0%)
• Massage (6,9%)
• Diet-based therapy (3.0%)
• Homeopathic Treatment (2.2%)
• Progressive relaxation (2.1%)
• Guided Imagery (1.7%)

Major CAM Organizations

The National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health (NCCIH) is the Federal Government's lead agency for scientific research on CAM. The NCCIH is dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science, training CAM researchers, and disseminating authoritative information to the public and professionals.

The NIH Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) was established back in October 1998 to coordinate and further enhance the activities of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the arena of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

You might also want to consider visiting the web sites of the American Botanical Council, American Chiropractic Association, American Osteopathic Association, American Association of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, National Center for Homeotherapy (NCH), or the National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP)

Native-American Indian Healing

There has been a steady surge of interest in the therapies of traditional cultures during recent years and patients' use of alternative medicine, mind-body healing therapies, and behavioral medicine treatments for chronic medical illness. Increasingly, traditional Native American healing practices are being requested by Native Americans and Non-Native peoples alike. Some hospitals have included traditional Native American healers as part of their staff. For example, Harvard University and Brigham & Women's Hospital have established the OSHER Center for Integrative Medicine.

Some of the spiritual approaches which patients may request, especially in the American Southwest, are Native American Healing (NAH) practices that are used to complement conventional medical treatment. Some Native-American patients even voice a preference for exclusive use of NAH.

The Market

In a 2005 report on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the U.S., the Board on Health Promotion & Disease Prevention states that the total visits to CAM providers exceed total visits to all primary-care physicians. In a 2009 report, NCCIH reported that out-of-pocket costs for CAM by adults in the U.S. exceeded $33 billion. A more recent Grand View Research 2014 Report reconfirmed that the global market for alternative medicine and therapies still remains well over $30 billion in size.

In particular, it should be noted that North America is one of the largest complementary and alternative medicine markets in the world. According to a national survey, in a given year more than 35% of all Americans incorporate some kind of alternative therapy into their healthcare routine. For example, more than 3 million people in the U.S. use acupuncture and around 2% of the Americans use homeopathy for the prevention or treatment of chronic diseases.

Two recent studies on the Complementary & Alternative Medicine predict that the market will continue to grow over the next decade to over $200 billion. Read Global Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Market Expected to reach a value of $196.9 billion by 2025and CAM Market Worth $210.81 Billion By 2026

Finally, despite the billions of dollars spent on these remedies each year, only a third of them have ever been scientifically tested. As USA Today reports, many American consumers cite distrust of big pharmaceutical companies as one of the main reasons they often lean toward using traditional therapies.

Electronic Health Records (EHR) and CAM Systems

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) defines the Electronic Health Record (EHR) as a longitudinal electronic record of patient health information generated by one or more encounters in any care delivery setting. Included in this information are patient demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data and radiology reports. See http://www.himss.org/ASP/topics_ehr.asp

According to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the Personal Health Record (PHR) is an electronic, lifelong resource of health information needed by individuals to make health decisions. Individuals own and manage the information in their PHR, which comes from both health care providers and the individual patients themselves. For more detail, see http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/pub_bok1_027351.html

Most modern EHR and PHR systems to date have been developed to meet the requirements of conventional Western medical practitioners. As work groups continue to formulate the standards and functional requirements for certified EHR and PHR systems of the future, one of the areas that ought to be addressed is the added domain of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Examples of CAM Computer Systems & Software

The following are links to a few of the hundreds of examples of commercial-off-the-shelf and 'open source' CAM software products that are currently available: 

• AcuGraph Acupuncture Software 
• BioPulse Software 
• Client Tracker 'Practice Management' System  
• Capterra List of Chiropractic Software 
• Google Play: Alternative Medicine Mobile Apps  
• Herbal Medicine Software  
• zHealthEHR Software 
• Zentrum Natural Healing Software

In other words, take the time to search the Internet and you'll find a growing range of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Integrative Health software solutions.

Key Findings & Conclusions

To gain more acceptance, there is a need to utilize the power of advanced computational systems to introduce more rigor in capturing and analyzing data related to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices. By gathering and integrating health care information associated with the application of CAM procedures into a patient's electronic health record (EHR), more accurate measurement of outcomes can be generated. Best practices can them emerge showing which complementary medical practices are most effective when coupled with conventional medical treatments for specific disorders.

At present, there appear to be a number of companies marketing CAM software modules. There are also a number of open source CAM solutions now available. However, none of the companies appear to have taken any major steps forward to integrate these products and data with PHR or EHR systems. There also seems to be little coordinated activity related to standardizing data elements within the major CAM domains.

Recommended Next Steps

There are a number of recommendations and next steps for health care organizations should consider taking with regards to further development of CAM software modules to be integrated within their EHR systems:

• Conduct more detailed research into use of CAM health information systems
• Identify and prioritize CAM software modules to be developed and/or integrated within EHR and PHR systems, e.g. acupuncture, chiropractic, etc.
• Initiate a collaborative, open source initiatives to develop key CAM software modules
• Initiate efforts to identify and standardize data elements for each CAM domain
• Develop a prototype and begin pilot tests of high priority CAM modules
• Develop and release production versions of CAM software modules
• Integrate CAM software modules with PHR and/or EHR systems
• Put in place mechanisms needed to refine and further enhance CAM modules
• Encourage efforts to analyze, evaluate, and report on the outcomes of complementary and alternative medicine therapies using data collected by CAM modules in EHR and PHR systems

Selected References & Web Sites National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health (NCCIH) NCCIH 2016 Strategic Plan: Exploring the Science of Complementary & Integrative Health American Chiropractic Association American Osteopathic Association American Association of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine Evidence Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine Journal Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine Medline Plus: Complementary and Integrative Health National Center for Homeotherapy (NCH) National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP) NIH - Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM)