Wholeness and Interconnection as the Foundation for a New Epistemology of Health.

Abstract

Background: A confluence of factors is ushering forward growing opportunities for global-level reconsideration and expansion of foundational concepts of health. This process draws on dynamic and evolving contributions from Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) systems, Indigenous Knowledge systems, and existing biomedical models to center wholeness and balanced interconnection within individuals and between people and the planet as elements of an emergent collective redefinition of health. Purpose & Conclusions: This article threads US-based and global efforts in this emergence by showcasing the National Academy of Medicine Report, Achieving Whole Health: A New Approach for Veterans and the Nation, alongside an overview of several significant recent contributions to the global integration of TCIM into national health systems by the World Health Organization (WHO), briefly also highlighting examples of the range of country and state-wide integration. The opening of the first WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre in India, the first Traditional Medicine Global Summit held in 2023, and the Summit's official meeting report: The Gujarat Declaration, are briefly explored as structures and experiences supporting enhanced collaboration and technical exchange as nations work to implement more expansive wholeness-based health concepts into national health systems. A discussion of the societal-level changes needed to implement such epistemic change is briefly explored, with emphasis on the need for equitable, cross-sectoral collaboration and visionary leadership in the development of new financial models to sustainably translate these emergent concepts of health into new healthcare delivery structures that center whole health and planetary health as part of the common good.