The UCLA Family Commons, a wellness center designed to provide information and programs about health to local families, opened its doors on Thursday in Santa Monica.
Located at 1221 Second St., near Third Street Promenade, the center’s retail location facilitates the neighborhood’s access to the health services offered, while its bright interior and child-oriented rooms encourage families to visit.
“Our idea is to bring healthy behaviors to people, and the location makes it very easy to come in and do something healthy every day,” said Liz Applegate, a research assistant at the Global Center for Children and Families who worked on the project for one year.
Sponsored by the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, the center is the brainchild of Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA, and Diane Flannery, a director of the UCLA Global Center for Family and Children.
Rotheram-Borus and Flannery met 20 years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, while planning the first international conference for runaway and homeless youth. However, the colleagues did not begin this project at UCLA until five years ago.
“They researched children and families for decades. Their dream was to have a center that provided preventive health services for the community,” Applegate said.
After winning a global competition sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Changemakers in 2007 for their idea for the center, Rotheram-Borus and Flannery won a $2 million grant from the foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio, according to the center’s Web site.
“This simple idea caught our attention because we believe it could significantly transform the delivery of behavioral health care, allowing families to resolve common challenges before they develop into serious problems,” said Nancy Barrand, senior program officer at the Pioneer Portfolio.
With this funding, Rotheram-Borus and Flannery were able to launch the UCLA Family Commons in Santa Monica.
Through years of research on child development and family health, the programs offered at the center will bring preventive health services to the community, Applegate continued.
“We synthesize the best that science has to offer and then we see what kinds of activities allow each family to discover their most potential,” Rotheram-Borus said.
Wellness classes at the center include martial arts, yoga and mindfulness.
“Research has shown these disciplines provide a wide range of benefits, including better focus and behavior in school, increased self-reliance and self-discipline, and a greater ability to manage stress and deal with frustration,” Rotheram-Borus said in a statement.
Private coaching and small group workshops will also be offered to parents and families.
“Coaching will range from toilet training to getting your 8-year-old to do homework to getting the family away from the TV and outside,” Applegate said.
The center is intended to be one of many located around the country and, if the model is successful, the globe. Rotheram-Borus said UCLA hopes to open a new center in downtown Los Angeles by January 2011 and eventually a third center in Cape Town, South Africa.
Although visitors to the Santa Monica center will have to pay for services, the wellness center in the ambassador school in downtown Los Angeles will be free, Applegate said.
“This model is not only for middle-class but also for low-income families,” Rotheram-Borus said. “Prevention should be a part of everybody’s daily life.”