REACH

Credit: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

Translational Science in Whole Person Health combines two frameworks that are especially useful for clinician-researchers in complementary and integrative health (CIH) fields. Translational science works to bridge discoveries across the research continuum, from mechanistic insights and clinical trials to real-world implementation in health systems and communities.

A whole-person approach recognizes that health emerges from the dynamic interaction of biological, behavioral, social, and environmental factors. Clinician-scientists in complementary and integrative health are uniquely positioned to drive this continuum by developing practice-based research networks, collaborating across disciplines, and engaging patients and communities in research that reflects real-world integrative care.

Training programs, methodological resources, and funding opportunities related to Whole Person Health are available through the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, while translational science frameworks and related initiatives can be explored through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

In addition, large-scale implementation models such as the VA Whole Health System of Care within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs demonstrate how complementary and integrative health approaches can be integrated, evaluated, and scaled across healthcare systems—offering a valuable model for studying real-world implementation, integration with technology, effectiveness (in terms of cost and health outcomes), and impact.

Research on the VA Whole Health System is available through the VA Health Services Research & Development Whole Health research program.

The UCSD REACH Center at UC San Diego Centers for Integrative Health offers a unique value to our REACH CIH Partners by providing scientific expertise that spans the entire translational science spectrum from discovery to dissemination. However, the primary framework of the UCSD REACH Center is early translational science.

In particular, the focus is on testing CIH interventions for reliable mechanistic engagement targets in humans, i.e., the translation from theory and discovery into human-facing interventions. These targets may operate on biological, psychological, sociological, and/or spiritual dimensions of whole person health.

More information

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

VA Whole Health System of Care

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) defines Whole Person Health as a framework that accounts for the complex, dynamic interactions among biological, behavioral, psychological, social, and environmental factors that influence health across the lifespan. This approach emphasizes systems-level understanding of health and healing rather than reductionist, disease-centered models.

Central to the Whole Person Health paradigm is recognition of interconnectedness—both within the individual and between the individual and their broader environment. Living systems do not operate in isolation, nor do health behaviors, psychosocial stressors, or environmental exposures act independently. Instead, health outcomes reflect emergent properties of these interacting domains over time. This perspective aligns closely with complementary and integrative health (CIH) models that emphasize balance, adaptability, and self-regulatory capacity.

For clinician-researchers, NCCIH’s Whole Person Health framework has important implications for study design, outcome selection, and clinical care. It encourages the use of multimodal interventions, pragmatic and systems-oriented research methodologies, and outcomes that extend beyond symptom reduction to include function, resilience, quality of life, and patient-defined goals. The framework also supports longitudinal approaches that capture trajectories of health and recovery rather than isolated endpoints.

In clinical practice, Whole Person Health underscores the importance of therapeutic relationships, contextualized care, and individualized treatment strategies. Integrative approaches—when grounded in evidence and applied thoughtfully—can address multiple domains simultaneously, such as combining mind–body interventions, lifestyle modification, and conventional treatments to support overall well-being.

Ultimately, NCCIH’s Whole Person Health framework provides a unifying conceptual model for complementary and integrative health. It legitimizes and advances approaches that seek not only to treat disease, but to understand and support the full complexity of human health, thereby informing research that is clinically relevant, person-centered, and responsive to real-world health challenges.

More information

NCCIH: Whole Person Health framework

Whole Person Health Index and related research