The Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, housed in the UW Department of Family Medicine and Community Health (DFMCH), received formal approval from the University Academic Planning Council on Dec. 15, 2022. The new center will capitalize on opportunities to collaborate across UW and throughout the world as part of the Osher Collaborative for Integrative Health.
Center Director Greta Kuphal, MD (left) with DFMCH Chair David Rakel, MD. Photo credit: John Maniaci/UW Health
“Being a university-recognized center will increase our capacity to collaborate with and learn from the expertise of entities across our institution in areas such as food systems, mental health and well-being, community outreach and policy and health disparities research,” said Dr. Greta Kuphal, Osher Center for Integrative Health at University of Wisconsin–Madison director. “Working together, we can be of greater service in bringing a whole-person and whole-community approach to support the health of all those we serve in the state of Wisconsin and beyond.”
“Being part of the Osher Collaborative allows the new center to partner with 10 other major universities working toward advancing salutogenic science and discovering innovative strategies for healthier communities,” said Dr. David Rakel, chair of the DFMCH at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and program founder, UW Integrative Health.
“Our department’s goal is to transform health care for all,” he said.
Founded in 2001, the UW Integrative Health program has long been a trusted academic and clinical resource for compassionate, innovative and evidence-based services striving to achieve whole-person and whole-community health for all. The program joined the Osher Collaborative for Integrative Health in 2021. Salutogenic science, which focuses on the origins of health, uses inter-professional teams to explore, recognize and reproduce healing patterns.
For more information or to support our work, contact: Sara Arscott, PhD, CCRP, outreach program manager, sara.arscott@fammed.wisc.edu.
Published: February 2023