Approaching Human Health as an Integrative Challenge: Introduction and Overview

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the Oxford Handbook of Integrative Health Science. A first section examines the rationale for multidisciplinary research on human health via evolution of biopsychosocial integration in a major national longitudinal study, known as MIDUS (Midlife in the United States). It began with in-depth survey assessments of sociodemographic and psychosocial factors and a daily diary component and was then expanded to include assessments of cognition, biomarkers, and neuroscience as well as a city-specific minority sample. Multiple waves of longitudinal data and recruitment of a “refresher” sample followed. The remainder of this introduction highlights scientific advances (elaborated in subsequent chapters) that followed from collecting in-depth information on the same set of participants. Each chapter offers a narrative of multiple scientific findings in targeted areas. We end with a glimpse at the road ahead in advancing integrative health science.