Características del modelo descriptivo

On entering the clinic from the laneway, the visitor enters the main waiting room, of approximately twenty square meters and is greeted by the herbalist in a white clinical coat. A phone rings intermittently with inquiries made by people wanting to make appointments to see either the herbalist or the practitioner. Clients are screened first by Rosli who asks why they have come to the clinic and then she ushers them into the clinical room if they are seeking a consultation. To purchase over-the-counter herbs, clients sit in the waiting room where the herbs are stored in large red drawers. In the clinic there are several large glass walls with a northerly aspect, which attracts the sun into the room. Directly to the right inside the entrance sits a large ceramic and rotund Buddha which the practitioner informed me was a ‘medicine’ Buddha. Incense sticks are lit early each morning as a prayer offering and the pungent odor of the sandalwood incense clings to the air. By the side of the Buddha there was a large

lucky plant which I was informed was positioned there to invite prosperity into the room.

Figure 5.2 The ‘Hanyu’ Clinic (plan not to scale - Arrows depict flow of client traffic).

The clinic is divided into four large rooms. Three rooms are downstairs and divided into areas that provide for combined therapy and assessment, herbal storage, dispensing of herbs and a kitchen. The first room that leads from the entry into a waiting room is also part of the main clinic area where herbs are dispensed. There are four divisions in this large room, the waiting area, two herb storage areas and the

Upstairs Area for storage of herbs (Practitioner use only) Kitchen (Practitioner use only) Storage area for herbs (Practitioner use only) Herb preparation and dispensing area Practitioner and client use Storage area for herbs (Practitioner use only) Main Entry from Chuang Wah Lane

Assessment Room

Desk, chairs and filing cabinet

Practitioner and client use Therapy Area

Massage table and Bookcase with Reference material

Waiting Room Client use

dispensing area. There is a kitchen at the rear of the waiting room and also a room which provides some storage for boxes of herbs for the use of the practitioner only.

5.5.1 Waiting room of the clinic

In the main waiting room there are two brown vinyl couches for clients to rest on as people wait for their appointments in an unhurried atmosphere. There is a noticeable but not unpleasant odor emitted from the many assortments of herbs. Nearby, on a bench lay a scattered assortment of older magazines and overhead fluorescent lighting provides good light. In the assessment room the lighting is more subdued and curtains pulled to provide privacy. The waiting room also houses the herbs in storage jars and on display under a glass counter pane. An assortment of jars, tin boxes and small cardboard containers of herbs for over the counter purchase are labeled in Chinese script.

5.5.2 Herb storage and dispensing

In an upstairs room there are dozens of cardboard containers of herbs stored to avoid lengthy delays as herbs are rail freighted to Perth from China via Sydney. Storing the herbs in a dry environment is required to avoid humidity which can cause mould. Downstairs, there are the large storage cupboards for the herbs which stretch from the floor to ceiling. An imposing steel chopper is fixed to the bench to cut up larger herbs when being dispensed with a bronze mortar and pestle nearby for herbs to be chopped into smaller portions or ground into powder form (Plate 20). Herbs are selected on the basis of the treatment of the different forms of syndrome and according to the four different properties of the herbs; these are cold, warm, hot and cool. These are denoted the different properties according to the effects of herbs observed by ancient Chinese botanists and herbalists.

Plate 18. Herb storage, mortar and pestle

The dispensation of the herbs are classified according to the eight methods of treatment: 1) inducing perspiration; 2) the method of clearing heat; 3) the method of inducing bowel movements; 4) the method of striking a balance and harmonizing; 5) the method of warming up coldness; 6) the method of tonification; 7) the method of eliminating; 8) The method of inducing vomiting (Lu, 1994). Herbs are weighed on a scale (Plate 22) and larger quantities of herbs are chopped into smaller portions (Plate 23), weighed, then placed on plain white paper (Plate 24) and secured with cello tape. Following the dispensing of these herbs they are bundled into a plastic bag and the herbalist describes how to prepare the herbs for consumption. A type written form in English describes the preparation of the herbs. Clients are also informed that if they had any worries they could ring and speak to the herbalist. An after hour’s mobile phone number is provided on the clinic’s business card.

Plate 19. Storage of herbs Plate 20. Weighing of herbs

Plate 21. Chopping the herbs Plate 22. Dispensing the herbs

5.5.3 The assessment room

The assessment room off the waiting area is four meters long by approximately three meters wide. Several charts written in Chinese calligraphy hang on the wall above the examination desk. Equipment in this room is sparse consisting of blood pressure gauge, acupuncture needles and glass containers for cupping. There is an examination table used for treating clients who come for acupuncture or Chinese massage. The assessment room also contains a desk with chairs on either side some note taking paper and a tiny pillow in the middle of the table used for taking the pulse.

Other furniture includes a bookcase with Chinese acupuncture journals and other books on herbs and acupuncture. To the left of the practitioner’s desk is a filing cabinet for client records. A Therapeutic Goods and Services Certificate is displayed on the wall behind the desk and there is a Certificate of the Business Name, legally required to be displayed. Adjacent to this area a separate section is partitioned off by a wall divider to provide privacy for people having treatment.

A cupboard is used for the storage of acupuncture needles and glass cups used for cupping and a massage table covered by a white sheet fills the remainder of floor space. Between the space of the consultation room and the partitioned area there is a flip chart for informal teaching sessions for those interested to learn more about Chinese medicine. Zeng organizes sessions through a local natural therapy academy for interested students to visit. Several acupuncture anatomical charts on the wall depict acupoint locations on the surface of the human body.