What is Holistic Healthcare?

Holistic healthcare is rooted in a powerful idea: a person's health cannot be siloed into isolated conditions or treated as disconnected parts. This perspective is supported by the CDC, which highlights that lifestyle behaviors—such as diet, physical activity, and tobacco use—are leading contributors to chronic disease and overall health.

That's why at Flagship Health, we take a comprehensive, holistic approach to healthcare — one that supports a patient’s entire lifestyle. Our model is designed to care for the whole person, not just their symptoms. We focus on physical, emotional, and social health, recognizing that these elements are deeply connected. That means we work to not only treat illness, but prevent it. 

This approach is especially important to help the people we serve, seniors and senior veterans, live with vitality, dignity, and connection.

What Does Holistic Healthcare Look Like? 

Patient health isn't confined to a doctor's office. It’s built through the foods we eat, the communities we engage with, how we manage stress, and the daily choices we make.

Our care model reflects this interconnected view, addressing not only clinical needs, but also the daily behaviors, emotional well-being, and social factors that shape a person’s overall wellness. 

At Flagship Health, we focus on:

• Physical health: Comprehensive primary care for seniors and veterans, preventive screenings, chronic care management, and in-clinic procedures.
• Mental and emotional wellness: Integrated behavioral health services.
• Lifestyle habits: Personalized support for nutrition, sleep hygiene, movement, and stress management.
• Community connection: Weekly community events focused on health education, as well as fun social activities designed to combat isolation and engender connection.
• Care navigation: Hands-on assistance with Medicare, insurance benefits, VA coordination, and transportation.

The Power of Personalized Primary Care

Our entire staff understands that a patient’s unique life experiences, including previous military service, shape their health journey. This understanding informs every aspect of our approach to care, which is grounded in:

• Continuity: Fostering long-term, trusted relationships between patients and their care teams.
• Proactivity: Emphasizing prevention, not just intervention, to maintain health and vitality.
• Personalization: Tailoring care plans to reflect each patient’s unique health needs and life goals.

Mental and Emotional Wellness

Mental health challenges can anyone, but older adults face distinct challenges. The CDC reports that approximately 20% of adults aged 55 and older experience some type of mental health concern. But despite the data, many seniors don’t seek help due to stigma, generational beliefs, or a lack of awareness about treatment options. 

Creating an environment where seniors feel safe, heard, and empowered is essential to support the whole person as they age. That’s why we offer:

• Integrated behavioral health services tailored for seniors and veterans.
• Trauma-informed care for those with military service backgrounds, including PTSD support.
• Wellness visits that screen for mental, cognitive, and emotional health indicators.
• Care coordination between medical, behavioral, and community support providers.

Lifestyle as Medicine

The most powerful medicine isn't found in a bottle. Rather, it's in our daily habits. Research from Harvard University shows that healthy lifestyle choices can add up to a decade of additional life expectancy.

At Flagship, we empower patients to harness this potential through:

• Nutrition counseling: Encouraging anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense diets.
• Movement programs: Tailored exercise plans suited to individual abilities and goals.
• Sleep support: Helping patients build better sleep hygiene by optimizing their circadian rhythms.
• Stress management techniques: Mindfulness practices, relaxation strategies, and emotional resilience coaching.

By treating lifestyle factors as central to health, we help prevent and manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline.

Combating Loneliness Through Community

Social isolation among older adults is a serious health risk. According to a Surgeon General Advisory, isolation can increase one’s risk of dementia by 50% and heart disease by 29%.

When people feel connected, they engage more fully in their health — and life.  That’s one of the reasons why at Flagship Health, we are so passionate about combating social isolation. Here’s a few specific ways in which we promote belonging and community building:

• Weekly Community Events: Healthy meals, games, health education talks, exercise classes, and dance parties.
• Partnerships with Veteran Groups: Connecting patients to peer support and additional resources.
• Transportation Assistance: Helping every patient attend events and appointments without barriers.

Care Navigation for Seniors and Senior Veterans

It’s no mystery that healthcare is complicated. We’re doing our part to make things easier for our patients by thoughtfully incorporating technology and offering veteran-specific care navigation support. 

All our senior patients have access to:

• Secure Electronic Medical Records: Enabling real-time access to patient histories and seamless coordination with specialists and referral partners.
• Patient Portal: Empowering patients to manage appointments, view records, and take an active role in their care.
• Telehealth Services: Convenient virtual visits offered when preferred or appropriate.
• In-Person Visits: Because for many seniors, nothing replaces the comfort and clarity of face-to-face care.

As a primary care practice founded by veterans, our team – many of whom are veterans themselves – understand the pride, strength, and challenges that come with military service. That’s why we offer specialized veteran care navigation services, including:

• VA Coordination: Support with accessing and navigating VA benefits and services.
• Disability Rating Assistance: Helping veterans through disability claims processes.
• Mental Health Support for PTSD and Service-Related Conditions: Coordinated through trusted behavioral health partners, ensuring that senior veteran patients receive compassionate, specialized care.

Redefining Aging with Energy and Optimism through Holistic Care

Holistic care isn't a trend — it's a return to what healthcare was always meant to be: personal, comprehensive, and compassionate.

At Flagship Health, we want our patients to age on their own terms. That means creating spaces where our seniors can rediscover resilience and joy, feel seen and celebrated through their journey, and be supported as the whole person they are.

We’re proudly setting a new standard in senior and veteran healthcare where patients don't just receive care; they build meaningful relationships, reclaim their vitality, and live life to its fullest.

A version of this article originally appeared on our website.

About Dr. Ramchandani

Dr. Sunny Ramchandani is the President of Flagship Medical Group with over 20 years of experience caring for patients, including extensive work with the senior population. A former White House Fellow and Navy physician, he previously served as Chief Population Health Officer at Naval Medical Center San Diego and helped lead national health reforms in Afghanistan. Dr. Ramchandani holds degrees from the U.S. Naval Academy, Yale School of Medicine, and Harvard School of Public Health.

Thanks for reading! 👋We’re Flagship Health, a veteran-founded comprehensive primary care practice dedicated to bettering health outcomes in senior and veteran communities. We write about healthcare best practices, broker/primary care partnerships, and more. 

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