Research Interests

integrative medicine, behavioral health, coaching psychology, medical anthropology, social connectedness

Biography

Professor Meg Jordan, Ph.D., R.N., CWP, ACC, NBC-HWC, is core faculty member, where her focus is preparing graduate students to be catalysts for positive change in health care, wellness, and health promotion. Dr. Jordan is a clinical medical anthropologist, an award-winning international health journalist, behavioral medicine specialist, RN, National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, author, and President of Global Medicine Enterprises, Inc. In 2018, she was awarded the William B. Baun Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Wellness Institute (NWI) for her contributions to the field of health and wellness and to NWI.

Her areas of expertise include integrative medicine, behavioral medicine, health promotion, wellness, and fitness. As a medical anthropologist, she specializes in the study of multidisciplinary models for integrative medicine (healing circles) and the emergence of health coaches as novel agents in health behavior change. Dr. Jordan is a shared first author of the peer-reviewed National Training and Education Standards for Health and Wellness Coaching: The Path to National Certification. In 2012 she received a grant from Aetna Foundation to bring a unique model of Integrative Wellness Coaching to public housing residents. She is founder of American Fitness Magazine, and author of several books, including The Fitness Instinct and How to Be a Health Coach: An Integrative Wellness Approach.

Former director of Integrative Practice at the Health Medicine Center, she has a clinical practice as a behavioral health specialist and is a certified coach with the International Coach Federation. She serves on numerous editorial review boards and professional membership boards. She is past co-president of the National Wellness Institute (NWI), on the executive board of the National Consortium for Credentialing Health and Wellness Coaches (NCCHWC), and the Leadership Council of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine. She received the Circle and Leadership Service Award and earned one of the first Certified Wellness Professional (CWP) standings from NWI.

The Integrative Health Studies M.A. program was recognized for Academic Excellence in 2011 by the National Wellness Institute after she reconfigured and restructured the curriculum. As a cardiac rehabilitation director, she helped establish the nation's first hospital-based wellness center in Los Angeles, and later, as a hospital trustee, at ValleyCare Health System in northern California. Dr. Jordan is former health news commentator for NBC Today show and was host of Global Medicine Hunter® radio and TV in US and Canada. She was a governor appointee, serving on the first California Governor's Council for Physical Fitness and Sports. She is a sought-after keynote presenter both in the U.S. and internationally. In 2016, she presented at the CDC in Atlanta, among other integrative health conferences. Her hobbies include racing sailboats on San Francisco Bay, music, film, and hiking.

Education

Ph.D., Union Institute & University

M.A. Philosophy and Religion, California Institute of Integral Studies

B.S. Communications, University of Illinois

B.S. Nursing, Metropolitan State University of Denver

Awards & Distinctions

William B. Baun Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Wellness Institute (NWI)

Circle and Leadership Service Award and earned one of the first Certified Wellness Professional (CWP) standings from NWI

Academic Excellence in 2011 by the National Wellness Institute

Guest lecturer, Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, U of Arizona, Faculty, Functional Medicine Coaching Academy

Courses

Integrative Wellness Coaching, Advanced Health Coaching, Integrative Seminar, Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Interpersonal Neurobiology, Patient Communications, Contemporary Topics in Integrative Health, Applied Skills and Coaching 1 

Publications

Jordan, M. (2022). The Power of Connection: Self-Care Strategies of Social Wellbeing. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice, 29. Dec 2022.

Jordan, M. (2022). Patient Communication: Lessons from COVID. Advances in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2(7). ACAM. 000659. 2022.DOI: 10.31031/ACAM.2022.07.000659

Jordan M. A. (2021). The Role of the Health Coach in a Global Pandemic. Global advances in health and medicine, 10, 21649561211039456. 

Jordan, M. (2021). Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy Among Marginalized Populations. International Journal of Nursing and Health Care Science, 01(01):2021-23.

Jordan, M. (2020). The Healing Circle: An Ethnographic Research Study of the Human Interaction Within New Model of Integrative Medicine. Advances in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 5(5). DOI: 10.31031/ACAM.2020.05.000622