Promoting Whole-Person Primary Care

The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) has launched a new multi-year initiative on whole-person care and lifestyle medicine. Learn more about the initiative below and keep an eye out for additional updates.

What is whole-person primary care?

Whole-person primary care promotes the full health of individuals and their communities by not only treating disease but promoting well-being. It approaches people holistically—supporting their physical, mental, social, and spiritual needs—and as partners at the center of their own care. Whole-person primary care uses an array of approaches to promote health, from conventional medicine to lifestyle coaching, community connection, self-care, and complementary therapies like acupuncture and mindfulness. It relies on a diverse team of professionals to help individuals reach their own health goals.

What are the goals of PCC’s new initiative?

Year one of PCC’s initiative dually aims to: broaden the primary care community’s understanding of whole health and lifestyle medicine concepts and the evidence behind them; and lay the groundwork for future work to promote whole-person primary care and lifestyle medicine among an engaged and committed community of members.

What does the PCC project entail?

• Convening a diverse workgroup of high-level leaders to inform PCC’s efforts through periodic meetings
• Hosting a series of webinars on whole health that will explore: evidence for the approach; its business case; and implementation considerations
• Surveying PCC members and the broader primary care community to gauge levels of understanding, commitment, and priority for whole-person care and lifestyle medicine
• Scanning the current marketplace, public forums, and research to understand trends in language and offerings related to whole health and primary care
• Identifying opportunities for PCC to elevate whole-person primary care, inclusive of lifestyle medicine, throughout the organization’s educational offerings, communications, policy and advocacy efforts, as well as PCC’s vision for the future of primary care

Who is funding this work?

PCC’s initiative is jointly funded by the Healing Works Foundation (HWF) and the Ardmore Institute of Health (AIH). HWF makes grants to advance the understanding and availability of whole person care in primary care and cancer care in a way that is sustainable and scalable. AIH funds initiatives that promote healthy lifestyles as an equitable and preferred method to prevent, treat, and reverse chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

How can I learn more?

Subscribe to PCC’s mailing list to receive our quarterly updates and webinar offerings. You can also check out the 2023 report on whole health out of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine that summarizes the evidence behind this approach and profiles a variety of health care settings where teams are delivering whole-person care.