A scientific validation model for medications has existed since the 1960s, with specific regulations recognized worldwide (e.g., FDA, EMA, ANSM). A similar procedure has recently been implemented for medical devices in Europe. However, until now, no consensual model existed for nutritional, bodily, and psychosocial health services due to confusions between approach, protocol, and technique/ingredient. A participatory, pragmatic, and multidisciplinary consensus work followed international scientific health recommendations to address this for NPI (Ninot et al., 2023).

This work took into account the specificities of NPI, health risks, the balance between internal and external validity, the justification of explanatory mechanisms, ethical considerations in health, and respect for contexts of use. The NPIS Model accelerates research through the harmonization of methodological and ethical expectations in NPI. It also enhances the identification, referencing, transferability, and implementation of NPI for the benefit of user health and safety, improving the quality of training.

Ultimately, the NPIS Model distinguishes between individualized, science-based services aimed at addressing known health issues in Western medicine and occupational practices (lifestyle, art of living, work, sociocultural activity, personal development, pursuit of happiness, spiritual practice, etc.). In this sense, the model does not impede individuals' freedom to choose a particular lifestyle. It aims to address a specific health issue for an individual or a group of people within a limited timeframe and a framework regulated by the health sector. The NPIS Model encourages innovations across all other health sectors, particularly in health organizations and early identification actions for health problems.

An evidence-based data point is a theoretical or practical knowledge acquired through rigorous and integrated scientific methods and reasoning. The NPIS Model follows this logic in the health field (see Figure 3). It provides specific methodological and ethical recommendations for NPI for studies focusing on their mechanisms and explanatory processes (mechanistic study), their content (prototypical study), their evolution over time (observational study), their benefits and risks (interventional study), and their application and personalization modalities (implementation study).

Accessible Protocols in Consultation

• Enhanced Quality and Safety: Strengthens the quality and safety of existing practices through formalization, harmonization, and securitization.
• Integration with Professional Software: Codified NPI can be integrated into healthcare management software.
• Digital Documentation: Access to documentation from computers, tablets, or smartphones for ease of use.
• Broad Validation: Extends validation to all relevant professionals in the region.
• Quick and Easy Access: Facilitates rapid access to information at critical decision-making moments for prevention and care.
• Simplicity in Tracking: Eases the follow-up and evolutionary process of best implementation practices (e.g., identifying barriers, professional leadership, availability of training and support).

Quality Control and Adherence to Protocols

• Traceability: Utilizes unique coded protocols for tracking.
• Strengthened Care Link: Enhances the relationship between care provision and patient support.
• Monitoring Relevant Indicators: Provides tools for tracking key performance indicators.
• Continuous Education Tool: Serves as a resource for ongoing professional development.
• Regular Updates: Incorporates regular updates based on user feedback.

Means of Valuation

• Response to Identified Multidisciplinary Issues: Addresses problems identified by healthcare teams in a specific territory.
• Extended Roles for Various Professionals: Expands the roles of many professionals, particularly non-physicians.
• Elimination of Ineffective Protocols: Phases out protocols that are ineffective, hazardous, or costly.
• Reduction in Meeting Time: Decreases the need for multiple meetings focused on intervention planning.
• Support for Innovation: Encourages professionals to experiment with new practices, boosting their confidence.
• Financial Valuation: Ensures appropriate financial and resource allocation for effective implementation.

NPI are a field in which many amalgamations occur between scientific knowledge and opinion, due to their objective—human health—and their operational mode, which involves immaterial protocols. However, it is essential to learn to distinguish science from research amidst the multiplication of tools and information channels (Klein, 2020), particularly on the subject of NPI. The same communication channels transmit both scientific knowledge and beliefs, opinions, comments... Information of different statuses becomes intertwined. Knowledge can turn into the belief of a particular community, and vice versa.

Research, on the other hand, pertains to questions for which we do not yet have answers. These well-defined questions still have no answer. A researcher works on the subject using various methods and strategies. Research fosters doubt. Scientific societies work to advance research within a specific territory and theme.

Given that NPI are universal health protocols centered on individuals and administered by humans, an international multidisciplinary scientific society needed to be created. This has been achieved since 2021. This society is called the Non-Pharmacological Intervention Society (NPIS).