Community as Medicine: Open Source Wellness, YMCAs & Behavioral Prescriptions with Ben Emmert-Aronson

On the Wellness Law Podcast, host Barbara Zabawa interviews Benjamin Emmert-Aronson, co-founder of Open Source Wellness (OSW), about creating a “behavioral pharmacy” that helps people act on common “behavioral prescriptions” like healthier eating, exercise, stress reduction, and social support—especially for patients in low-income communities who lack resources. Aronson describes OSW’s 90-minute weekly groups combining movement, mindfulness, health education, small-group health coaching, and group medical visits with primary care clinicians for 12-week continuity care. He explains OSW’s expansion through a national YMCA training cohort called the Community as Medicine Learning Collaborative, including clinic referral partnerships and evaluation and sustainability planning, and discusses addressing social determinants of health through produce partnerships and community-based YMCA resources. They also cover OSW’s corporate wellness events, nonprofit funding, and the tension between rigorous health coach credentialing and accessibility.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

01:33 What Is Open Source Wellness

02:53 Behavioral Pharmacy Model

04:12 Scaling With YMCAs

06:22 Clinic Referrals in Practice

07:32 Who the Groups Serve

09:18 Group Medical Visits

10:11 Tackling Social Determinants

13:32 Corporate Wellness Events

15:39 Health Coach Training Access

19:56 Ethics Standards vs Licensure

22:20 How to Connect and Support

23:44 Podcast Closing

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