Judy and Sal Troia made another generous donation to the DFMCH Integrative Health Program establishing the Judy L. and Sal A. Troia Integrative Medicine Innovation Fund. This new gift builds on a previous donation from the Troias in 2018. The goal is to provide additional support to expand the Integrative Health Program’s reach.
Sal and Judy Troia
“The Judy and Sal Troia support allows us to communicate and collaborate with our specialty colleagues in a way that invites partnerships for healthy outcomes,” says DFMCH Chair David Rakel, MD. “This will bring a better balance to a medical culture that mainly focuses on reacting to disease.”
The UW Integrative Health Program currently offers a wide array of clinical services including health psychology, cancer care, health assessments, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and neuromusculoskeletal medicine. In addition, classes and support groups are available ranging from weight management to sports performance and cooking in the Learning Kitchen. Complementary services include acupuncture, Feldenkrais Method, healing touch, and massage therapy and bodywork.
Both Judy and Sal are long-time supporters of integrative medicine as they’ve benefited from positive results in their own health. Sal was introduced to the concept many years ago when he heard about a talk Dr. Rakel, then a DFMCH faculty member, gave at the UW Health Sports Medicine Center about the benefits of integrative medicine. Dr. Rakel counts the Troias among his first integrative health patients.
Sal lives with inflammatory bowel disease and is impressed with Dr. Rakel’s knowledge of supplements and dietary changes that helped manage his condition.
“Combining traditional medicine with integrative health techniques has helped me manage my condition, and I hope others are able to benefit from this knowledge as more specialties embrace a variety of treatments,” shares Sal. “I have been an avid cyclist and bicycle racer since the late 1980s so it’s possible to be very active even though you are living with inflammatory bowel disease.”
A nurse for many years, Judy Troia was always interested in preventive health and appreciated Dr. Rakel’s philosophy in that area.
“He promotes things like yoga and meditation that support total body health,” adds Judy. “We need more physicians prescribing physical activity and wellness as part of a treatment plan.”
Judy and Sal hope their donation makes integrative health more accessible to a range of specialties.
“We hope this financial support helps get more physicians involved in integrative health and gets other specialties to think about including integrative medicine in treatment, “says Sal.
Published: November 2021