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hildhood obesity rates in the United States have tripled in the past three decades and one in three Americans is obese or overweight. Headline-making tragedies highlight the estimated 9.6 million American adults with a serious mental illness. More than a quarter of Americans manage multiple chronic health conditions. And “aging in place” is growing as Baby Boomers stay in their homes as long as possible. Helping people cope with health issues — from cradle to grave — requires creative strategies. Those strategies increasingly incorporate holistic health care, an approach that treats the whole person — mind, body and spirit. At Mount Mary University, educating our students to value and consider the whole person is not new. It’s been embedded in the fabric of our mission for decades. “The University’s philosophy of educating the whole person fits together really well with today’s holistic health care view,” says Cheryl Bailey, Ph.D., dean of the School of Natural and Health Sciences. Bailey says Mount Mary’s holistic education prepares students for a complex life — managing careers, finding work/life balance, coping with life’s stressors, interacting with their community, and making healthy choices for themselves and their families. “No matter what major a Mount Mary student studies, she gains a holistic perspective, particularly in foundational science courses like biology and chemistry,” adds Lynn Diener, Ph.D., chair of the Sciences Department. “Science courses help students develop analytical and critical thinking skills that help them make decisions. They gain the knowledge base they need to evaluate health care choices because they understand what constitutes good research and good evidence.”
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