Summary:
Samueli Institute approaches the study of resilience, health and wellness as a whole system, both within and outside the context of disease. This systems wellness effort reflects collaborative partnerships with universities and research institutions within and outside of the United States, including a collaborative agreement with TNO/University of Leiden and Dalian University of Chemical Physics.
Goals:
- Develop systems-based models for understanding and tracking resilience, health, and wellness
- Apply systems-based interventions to enhance health and wellness across patient populations
- Study the impact of known programs/clinics on clinical outcomes from a systems perspective
Projects:
Central Evaluation of Resilience Programs
This Department of Defense-funded project brings together experts from diverse fields including systems biology, control systems engineering, psychoneuroimmunology, neuroscience, and psychology to build a model for understanding and tracking resilience. Find out more about the Towards a Systems Model of Resilience conference held in California in January 2013. To continue progress towards building a model, a concept analysis was completed for the term, “reintegration”, which concluded with convening an expert panel to create a vetted and comprehensive definition for the term.
Prospective Outcomes and Evaluation Monitoring Study (POEMS) for InspireHealth
InspireHealth is an integrative cancer care center with a variety of programs based in British Columbia. The Center for Brain, Mind and Healing are in the process of completing two studies that are funded by the Hecht Foundation. One study is exploring a path model that was developed with aspects to quality of life. The second study is a randomized controlled trial with late-stage colorectal and lung cancer patients. The study will explore these patients randomized to either InspireHealth with usual care or usual care alone and their quality of life.