5 March 2021

Fundamental Health offers a new model in holistic health care

| Neha Attre
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Lauren Bowman.

Lauren Bowman is an osteopath who graduated from RMIT in Melbourne with a triple degree. Photo: Supplied.

Osteopath Lauren Bowman started Canberra allied health practice Fundamental Health with her husband, Scott, just one year ago but she is already celebrating success, winning the 2021 Canberra Fair Take Flight competition, a celebration of business startups and innovation in the ACT.

Lauren wanted to set up a practice where practitioners from different allied health services work together to create a holistic model that is easily accessible to clients while setting a new standard of communication and care within the health industry.

“I noticed a gap in healthcare in Canberra,” she says. “Communication between complementary health, allied health and medical doctors is limited. Our primary focus at Fundamental Health is women’s healthcare and the whole idea behind setting up the business is to bring in practitioners from different techniques who could work together for the benefit of the client.”

Lauren says the Take Flight competition win is a welcome recognition of Fundamental Health’s team of allied health practitioners. The practice offers osteopathy, acupuncture, massage therapy, dietetics, nutrition and counselling services.

“Our passion is to provide our clients with the highest standards of healthcare within our own practice and to build a solid network of practitioners in Canberra to provide options to our patients,” she says. “This is what sets us apart from others.

“As an osteopath, I deal with musculoskeletal complaints. This might be one layer of healthcare for that client. We are building up a practice that provides different layers of healthcare, such as nutrition or mental health support, making it accessible for the client to find what they need.”

Born and raised in Canberra, Lauren graduated from RMIT in Melbourne in 2015 with bachelor degrees in osteopathy, health science, and applied science in complementary medicine. She then returned to the national capital.

Tamsyn Sheffield, Nicole Mensinga, Lauren Bowman and Krista Van Lunenburg.

The Fundamental Health team (from left): Tamsyn Sheffield, osteopath; Nicole Mensinga, acupuncturist; Lauren Bowman, osteopath; and Krista Van Lunenburg, counsellor. Photo: Supplied.

Initially, Lauren wanted to take up physiotherapy due to her sporting background, but she was inspired to study osteopathy because the osteopathic philosophy of treating the whole body, not just the area of pain, sat well with her.

She says her treatment approach is directly influenced by the understanding that the patient’s body has its own self-healing abilities.

Fundamental Health provides an array of services and has professionals in the field of osteopathy, acupuncture, massage, nutrition and counselling, and while its primary focus is women’s healthcare, Lauren says the practice also treats men and children.

The healthcare team treats common conditions including pelvic pain; pregnancy-related pain; lower back pain; fertility and pregnancy acupuncture support; gut health nutrition; weight management nutrition; and mental health support, including individual and couples’ counselling.

“We are a co-op team from different disciplines working together with the same focus, which is our client’s health and wellbeing,” says Lauren.

“What we are providing is not standard healthcare. Each patient is a unique individual and we need to tailor our treatments for each person. If we cannot help, we refer to someone who can. We care about each client and want to provide the best service possible to them.”

To learn more about Lauren and her business, visit Fundamental Health. You can also see Fundamental Health at Canberra Fair 2021 on Saturday, 20 February, 2021, from 2 pm to 9 pm, and Sunday, 21 February, 2021, from 10 am to 3 pm, at Thoroughbred Park in Lyneham.

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