Objective: An emerging literature suggests patients with chronic illnesses can benefit from integrated, person-centric approaches to health care, including group-based programs. However, much of the research in this area is disease specific. The objective of this study was to collect preliminary evidence on the efficacy of Taking Charge of My Life and Health (TCMLH), a Whole Health group-based program that emphasizes self-care and empowerment on the overall health and well-being of veterans, a population burdened with high rates of multiple chronic conditions. Method: Self-reported outcomes, including standardized survey measures, were collected at pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up from 77 participants across 15 groups at four VA sites. Random intercept mixed-model regressions were used to analyze data. Results: Results from this initial study showed high satisfaction with the program and facilitators, and high attendance. There were significant pre–post gains in self-care attitudes and behaviors, patient motivation, meaning and purpose, mental health, perceived stress, goal progress, and goal-specific hope. Outcomes were maintained at 2-month follow-up for patient motivation, perceived stress, goal-specific hope, and goal progress. Significant gains were observed in health care empowerment and physical health from pretest to follow-up. Conclusions: Preliminary findings support the efficacy of TCMLH, a Whole Health group-based program that emphasizes patient empowerment, self-care practices, and peer support. Future research priorities include a rigorous evaluation with a larger sample size and control group to assess effectiveness.

Natural scenes tend to be biased in both scale (1/ f) and orientation (H > V ≫ O; horizontal > vertical ≫ oblique), and the human visual system has similar biases that serve to partially ‘undo’ (ie whiten) the resultant representation. The present approach to investigating this relationship considers content in works of art—scenes produced for processing by the human visual system. We analyzed the content of images by a method that minimizes errors inherent in some prior analysis methods. In the first experiment museum paintings were considered by comparing the amplitude spectrum of landscape paintings, natural scene photos, portrait paintings, and photos of faces. In the second experiment we obtained photos of paintings at the time they were produced by local artists and compared structural content in matched photos which contained the same scenes that the artists had painted. Results show that artists produce paintings with both the 1/ f bias of scale and the horizontal effect bias of orientation (H > V ≫ O). More importantly, results from both experiments show that artists overregularize the structure in their works: They impose the natural-scene horizontal effect at all structural scales and in all types of subject matter even though, in the real world, the pattern of anisotropy differs considerably across spatial scale and between faces and natural scenes. It appears that artists unconsciously overregularize the oriented structure in their works to make it conform more uniformly to the ‘expected’ canonical ideal.