Open Source Wellness is a “Behavioral Pharmacy,” an innovation bridging the gaps between healthcare and community. OSW is founded on the understanding that just as we need CVS to fill our prescription medications, we need an affordable, accessible, and effective delivery system for health behavior change – eating better, exercising, reducing our stress, and connecting meaningfully with others. With 86% of our national healthcare budget spent on chronic disease, it’s time for a low-cost, proven, experiential, and culturally-adaptable method for preventing and reversing chronic disease.
Our clinical healthcare-based model, developed in partnership with Alameda Health System (Hayward Wellness Center), has emerged as a spreadable/scalable intervention, and has generated substantial interest in the last year. In brief, Open Source Wellness delivers its signature trans diagnostic, experiential program in full workflow integration and electronic-medical-record integration on site at the clinic. Importantly, and key to our success in spreading this model, we have created a financially sustainable model via group medical visits (an MD or NP participates in the group, and then bills insurance for each patient).
National board-certification is rapidly becoming the standard of qualification for health and wellness coaching. Open Source Wellness is poised to design and deliver a health coach training program that both fulfills the requirements for national board certification AND uplifts our values of cultural humility, trauma awareness, and “Community as Medicine.” In addition to continuing to serve our populations with culturally appropriate care, this program will create a much-needed and accessible employment pathway for our participants and peer leaders who have gained valuable health and coaching knowledge and skills throughout their participation in our program and are eager to utilize them in a paid employment capacity.
