Steffany Moonaz

Maryland University of Integrative Health · Integrative Health Sciences

Background Chiropractors commonly encounter patients who present for spine pain with parallel substance use. There is currently no widespread training within the chiropractic profession to prepare chiropractors to recognize and address substance use in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to examine chiropractors’ confidence, self-perce...

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disorder for which there is no cure. Current treatments are suboptimal. Exercise is a core treatment for knee OA, with muscle strengthening exercise commonly recommended. Yoga is a mind-body exercise intervention that can improve flexibility, muscle strength, balance, and fitness and potentially reduce symptoms...

Background: The use of yoga as a therapeutic modality is increasing; however, a lack of transparent intervention reporting is restricting the dissemination and implementation of yoga research into clinical and community practice. The aim of this study was to develop a yoga-specific reporting guideline as an extension to existing reporting guidelin...

Introduction: Chronic pain and the current opioid epidemic are pressing public health concerns, especially in low-income and ethnically diverse communities. Nonpharmacologic therapies that are safe, effective, and acceptable for the treatment of chronic pain conditions may provide a solution for addressing this issue. This qualitative analysis expl...

Background Reporting of yoga research often lacks the detail required for clinical application, study replication, summary research and comparative effectiveness studies. Methods To improve the transparency of reporting yoga interventions, and building on the development of previous reporting guidelines, a group of international yoga research stak...

Objective: To identify factors associated with implementing bundled group acupuncture and yoga therapy (YT) to treat underserved patients with chronic pain in community health center (CHC) settings. This is not an implementation science study, but rather an organized approach for identification of barriers and facilitators to implementing these the...

Yoga research is growing rapidly in volume and rigor but varies in sample size, study design, and reporting transparency. Yoga professionals may not be versed in the current research due to a lack of research literacy and may not be well positioned to discern research relevance and quality. Research literacy is necessary to apply research in yoga t...

Yoga therapy is an emerging integrative health approach that applies the practices and teachings of yoga for individuals with clinical concerns. It is generally offered as individual sessions between a yoga therapist and client or in a small group setting with several clients who share a clinical concern. Here we describe a third model for consider...

Chronic pain is prevalent in the United States, with impact on physical and psychological functioning as well as lost work productivity. Minority and lower socioeconomic populations have increased prevalence of chronic pain with less access to pain care, poorer outcomes, and higher risk of fatal opioid overdose. Acupuncture therapy is effective in...

Yoga therapy is an emerging profession with recent development of educational competencies, training program accreditation, and practitioner certification. In the United States, most yoga therapy training programs are studio-based and data on mentored clinical encounters are lacking. This study aimed to characterize the client population in a unive...

Objective—To evaluate the impact of Integral-based hatha yoga in sedentary people with arthritis.Methods—75 sedentary adults aged 18+ with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or knee osteoarthritis (OA) were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of yoga (2 60 min classes and 1 home practice/wk) or waitlist. Poses were modified for individual needs. The primary endpoi...

Yoga is a popular activity which may be well suited for some individuals with certain rheumatic disorders. Regular yoga practice can increase muscle strength and endurance, proprioception and balance, with emphasis on movement through a full range of motion to increase flexibility and mobility. Additional beneficial elements of yoga include breathi...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease associated with widespread inflammation and tissue damage. It is more common and severe among Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians; with higher incidence in women. While the goals of medical treatment are to prevent flares and reduce organ damage, up to 50% of patients perceive their health to be...

Yoga therapy is a newly emerging, self-regulating complementary and integrative healthcare (CIH) practice. It is growing in its professionalization, recognition and utilization with a demonstrated commitment to setting practice standards, educational and accreditation standards, and promoting research to support its efficacy for various populations...

Background While there is a growing interest in the therapeutic benefits of yoga, minority populations with arthritis tend to be under-represented in the research. Additionally, there is an absence of guidance in the literature regarding the use of multicultural teams and sociocultural health beliefs, when designing yoga studies for a racially dive...

Context • Yoga Therapy is an emerging complementary and integrative health practice for which there is increasing interest from both clinical and research perspectives. Currently missing, however, is an explanatory framework for the profession that provides practitioners, clients, and the public with an understanding of how various yogic traditions...

Evidence-Informed Practice (EIP) utilizes the three components of expert opinion, research evidence, and client values. It is a recommended training competency for integrative health practitioners in diverse fields, such as acupuncture and massage therapy. Research Literacy (RL) is a necessary pre-requisite to EIP. Many yoga therapists have limited...

Evidence-Informed Practice (EIP) utilizes the three components of expert opinion, research evidence, and client values. It is a recommended training competency for integrative health practitioners in diverse fields, such as acupuncture and massage therapy. Research Literacy (RL) is a necessary pre-requisite to EIP. Many yoga therapists have limited...

This article discusses Samkhya Philosophy and the parallels with evidence informed practice

Objectives To examine the acceptability of yoga research tailored to recruit and retain a minority population (both English and Spanish speaking) with arthritis. Yoga research for arthritis often underrepresents minorities and acceptability for this population has not previously been investigated. Design Acceptability was evaluated using retention...

Objective: To describe the personal, professional, practice, service and consumer characteristics of the North American yoga therapy workforce. Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive survey developed and informed by the contemporary workforce literature. A link to the e-survey was distributed to members of the International Association of Yoga The...

There is growing evidence that yoga can be beneficial as an aspect of self-care for people with arthritis. However, yoga may be less acceptable to those from different cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, and racial/ethnic identities. While implementing a feasibility/acceptability pilot study of yoga as self-care in minority communities, the subjec...

Persons with visual impairment (VI) are at greater risk for falls due to irreparable damage to visual sensory input contributing to balance. Targeted training may significantly improve postural stability by strengthening the remaining sensory systems. Here, we evaluate the Ashtanga-based Yoga Therapy (AYT) program as a multi-sensory behavioral inte...

To evaluate the effect of Integral-based hatha yoga in sedentary people with arthritis. There were 75 sedentary adults aged 18+ years with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or knee osteoarthritis randomly assigned to 8 weeks of yoga (two 60-min classes and 1 home practice/wk) or waitlist. Poses were modified for individual needs. The primary endpoint was p...

CASE STUDY Yoga is a promising therapeutic modality for neurodegenerative diseases. This case study presents a therapeutic yoga protocol for adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN) and its effect on a patient's quality of life (QOL), agility, balance, and peripheral dexterity. A 61-y-old man diagnosed with AMN who was experiencing (1) peripheral neuropathy in...

Objective: A systematic review was done of the evidence on yoga for improving balance. Design: Relevant articles and reviews were identified in major databases (PubMed, MEDLINE(®), IndMed, Web of Knowledge, EMBASE, EBSCO, Science Direct, and Google Scholar), and their reference lists searched. Key search words were yoga, balance, proprioception,...

Yoga is a popular activity which may be well suited to some individuals with specific rheumatic disorders. Regular yoga practice can increase muscle strength and endurance, proprioception, and balance, with emphasis on movement through a full range of motion to increase flexibility and mobility. Additional beneficial elements of yoga include breath...

SYR 2013 Accepted Poster abstracts.

Background While arthritis is the most common cause of disability, non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics experience worse arthritis impact despite having the same or lower prevalence of arthritis compared to non-Hispanic whites. People with arthritis who exercise regularly have less pain, more energy, and improved sleep, yet arthritis is one of the mos...

This exploratory study aims to establish the feasibility of an Ashtanga-based Yoga Therapy (AYT) program for improving sleep disturbances, balance, and negative psychosocial states, which are prevalent issues for visually impaired (VI) individuals. Ten legally blind adult participants were randomized to an 8-week AYT program. Four subjects in the 1...

This article reviews the existing literature on using yoga for arthritis. It includes peer-reviewed research from clinical trials (published from 1980 to 2010) that used yoga as an intervention for arthritis and reported quantitative findings. Eleven studies were identified, including 4 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 4 non-RCTs. All trials...

Creative, cost-effective ways are needed to help older adults deal effectively with chronic diseases. Spiritual beliefs and practices are often used to deal with health problems. We evaluated whether a minimal intervention, consisting of a video and workbook encouraging use of patient spiritual coping, would be inoffensive and improve perceived hea...

Objective: To test the effects of a lifestyle physical activity [LPA] program on health status, pain, fatigue, and function in adults with the fibromyalgia syndrome [FMS]. Methods: Forty-eight sedentary adults with FMS were randomized to either LPA or a FMS education control [FME] group. The LPA participants gradually worked toward accumulating 30...

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Examining the safety, feasibility and efficacy of yoga for persons with arthritis

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disabling systemic disease with no cure. Yoga, currently considered to be a complementary and alternative medicine modality under investigation for potential health benefits, is an ancient physical activity that shows promise for slowing RA disability and helping to manage symptoms. METHOD: Participants...

Strategies to improve coping with chronic disease are increasingly important, especially with the aging US population. For many, spirituality serves as a source of strength and comfort. However, little is known about the prevalence of daily spiritual experiences (DSE) and how they may relate to physical and mental health. We surveyed older adults a...

Background. Arthritis is a chronic, painful disease affecting 26 million Americans. It is the leading cause of disability and is associated with joint destruction, loss of function, deformity, depression and poor quality of life (QOL). Physical activity is recommended for comprehensive arthritis management. Unfortunately, most individuals who start...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, painful disease resulting in disability, difficulty with activities and poor quality of life (QOL). Exercise is recommended to reduce symptoms, slow progression and decrease muscle wasting. Unfortunately, most RA patients are sedentary. Yoga is an ancient Indian form including physical poses, deep breathing,...

Using population-based survey data from the 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), we estimated the population prevalence of self-reported, doctor-diagnosed arthritis in the US from 2005 to 2050. Projected arthritis-prevalence data were estimated in 5-year increments along sex- and age-specific categories by multiplying the 2003 B...

Obesity is a risk factor for the development and progression of arthritis. Weight loss can provide symptomatic benefit for adults with arthritis. To describe the proportion and characteristics of adults with self-reported diagnosed arthritis who report ever having been advised by a doctor or health professional that losing weight might benefit thei...

It is important to identify predictors of exercise/physical activity in adults with arthritis. The objective of this study was to estimate the association between selected factors and recent exercise/physical activity in adults with self-reported, professionally diagnosed arthritis. Using population-based survey data from the 2004 Behavioral Risk F...

Obesity is a major health problem facing the developed and developing world. Efforts by individuals, health professionals, educators, and policy makers to combat the escalating trend of growing obesity prevalence have been multifaceted and mixed in outcome. Various dietary supplements have been marketed to reduce obesity. These products have been s...

Banking of cord blood (CB) for unrelated hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation is well established. However, directed-donor banking of CB for siblings in a current good tissue practices (cGTP) environment has not previously been investigated. Families were eligible for the present study if they were caring for a child with a disorder treata...

Background: The discovery that blood from the placenta contains hematopoetic stem cells (HSC's) promises an exciting new generation of treatment options for children with certain genetic conditions. Most significantly, this blood provides an attractive alternative to bone marrow as a resource for HSC transplantation (TP). Cord blood (CB) offers sev...

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