Natural Approach To Health Care: Helping People In A Personal Way

Anna Richardson

She is Anna Richardson, daughter of James Richardson, Facilities Manager at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, and Teacher Sheila at the Alwyn Allison Primary School, West End. Her brother, Matthew, works at the Government Information Technology Unit.

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Ms. Richardson, who was born in Slough, grew up in England for some time and moved to Anguilla as a teenager. She worked here as a fitness trainer but in her words: “I really wanted to do something more in helping people so I decided to go back to England and study Osteopathy which is a medical discipline. I studied in North London in the British College of Osteopathic Medicine and I achieved a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) degree and a Diploma in Osteopathy and Naturopathy.”

Osteopathy is a way of detecting and treating damaged parts of the body such as muscles, ligaments, nerves and joints. Osteopaths use their hands to physically manipulate the body to relieve pain and tension. It is described as a safe, effective and natural approach to healthcare. Each treatment is unique to the patients’ own individual needs and may include nutritional advice, exercise, massage and manipulation.

Naturopathy is nutritional healing done in conjunction with osteopathic treatment. “The belief is that your body can heal itself,” she explained. “What we do with Osteopathy and Naturopathy is to encourage your body to be at its optimum nutrition by eating the right things and cutting the wrong things out and physically manipulating the body to try to encourage it to heal. There are no drugs involved. We don’t use medicines.”

Ms. Richardson said that if the conditions of a patient were not something that needed medical intervention and referral, “it is something that we can treat – usually physical problems in the body.” Such conditions may include back, neck and shoulder pain, hip, knee, ankle and foot pain, disc injuries, sciatica and trapped nerves, sports injuries, arthritis pain, headache and migraine and muscle and joint pain. The treatment is for any person who cannot or do not want to use drugs and prefers a natural therapeutic way of healing the body.
“After I finished studying, I was working in London for a good few years. But now I wanted to come back to Anguilla to be close to my family, build a home and to contribute to Anguilla’s medical health,” she said.

Asked why she chose her field of study, Ms. Richardson replied: “When I first went back to England, I thought I wanted to do physio-therapy and then I learned about osteopathy which I never heard about until I was there. I guess physio-therapy is more rehabilitation after accident, operations and things like that…In osteopathy I diagnose my own patients. Everybody is treated as an individual and I really like that – helping people on a personal level. I liked helping people. It is really a fine job; you get to meet all kinds of people, learn different things about their lives and helping them. It is really rewarding and very, very nice.”

Ms. Richardson, who assumed her duties at Hughes Medical Centre this week, will be available there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

She has expressed gratitude for all the assistance she received in pursuing her career.

“I want to thank God for His continuing guidance and strength throughout my studies, life and carer. I like to thank my family especially my mom and dad for always giving me the opportunity and encouragement to follow my own path in life. I would like to thank the National Bank in Anguilla for providing me with a student loan to follow my studies; and to all my friends and family and colleagues in the UK for their help and support throughout my university and beyond.”

Her father, James Richardson, commented: “I am really proud of her. I got a son, Matthew Richardson, and he has a natural ability to be a genius; and I think my daughter, Anna, is much like me…I am proud of her achievement and she worked hard to get it.”