Integrative
Health Center

With SEKEM Group’s holistic view of human health to include the wellbeing of mind, body & soul, the Integrative Health Center-IHC of Heliopolis University works to raise awareness on this view across Egypt.
IHC fosters multiple projects in collaboration with the Rural Development Development Center-RDC as well as the university to achieve its holistic health goals.
Vision
Create an integrative health system that is made accessible to Egypt’s families, while delivering tailored services to each family member, with inclusion of physical & mental health services.
Mission
Raise awareness on integrative health approaches & make integrative health services available & deliver it to rural areas to all individuals across Egypt.
Development
Tracks
- SEKEM Vision Goals
- SVG 1: Lifelong Learning & Potential Unfolding
- SVG 2: Holistic research
- SVG 3: Integrative health
- SVG 15: Equality & diversity
- SVG 16: Social Transformation
- UN Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 3: Good health & wellbeing
- SDG 6: Clean water & sanitation
- SDG 8: Decent work & economic growth
- SDG10: Reduced inequalities
SEKEM Medical Center Collaboration
The first SEKEM Medical Center was established in 1996, to serve the families in the 13 Villages Initiative. While the medical center team caters for the patients’ physical health, HU-IHC provides integrative health services to the individuals in the community, catering to their holistic & mental wellbeing.
On the other hand, HU Health Center, located inside the university, presents a collaboration between HU_IHC & SEKEM Medical Center; where the medical center staff are catering for the physical health & are offering the medical services, while HU-IHC team are offering the holistic health & wellbeing services to HU community, including students & staff members.
The medical services include diagnosis, treatment as well as therapy services.
EcoHealth Insurance Collaboration
To achieve SEKEM’s Cultural Vision Goal of making integrative health available to all individuals, EcoHealth Insurance was established.
It is a medical insurance company, operating in Egypt, dedicated to offering integrative medical services and is powered by SEKEM Group.
HU-IHC, EcoHealth along with SEKEM Medical Center started an initiative where medical checkups are conducted in order to implement integrative, holistic & preventive medicine in Egypt.
While the medical center team is responsible for individuals’ medical check-up & services, HU-IHC team is responsible for integrative health screening, assessments and collecting patient lifestyle information in order to create a holistic health profile on each patient.
Health on Wheels Initiative
The “Health on Wheels” initiative started in 2020 during COVID times, when people couldn’t leave their homes to seek medical services at the 13 Villages community, and it continues to provide its services till today.
This service aims to both raise awareness on integrative health practices, as well as provide services to those who need it. We have a vision of providing these services in rural areas across Egypt.
The initiative supervised by IHC team & operated by SEKEM Medical Center team, tackles the overall wellbeing of individuals & provides art & movement therapy to them, while also catering for their medical needs at their home when needed.
Health Shuttle Initiative
While Health on Wheels Initiative sends integrative health professionals to the patients’ homes, the Health Shuttle Initiative brings patients in need of medical care from th 13 Villages Initiative to the SEKEM Medical Center.
The initiative is also in collaboration with Heliopolis University’s Rural Development Center, where Integrative Health Center team provide overall wellbeing services to patients, and SEKEM Medical Center team provide the medical care required.
Women’s Health Services
HU-IHC tackles women’s health by 2 initiatives in Cairo as well as the rural areas of Egypt. Our initiatives don’t only tackle women’s physical health, but also their overall wellbeing, raising awareness on self-care & mental health practices.
1.Women’s Health Project
In this project, the HU-IHC team works on training women in the rural areas to be able to coack other women in rural areas about their overall health as well as self-care practices.
Targeted at the women of the 13 villages initiatives, the project aims to empower a select group of women to become Women Health Coaches who are able to deliver further coaching to women in the rural areas of Egypt. One coach will have an impact & reach up to 200 families.
A Health Coach visits women at home, and gives attention to their physical and psychological
condition. They transfer knowledge about building awareness of the menstrual cycle and
menopause, and about simple means as well as natural remedies for their self-care.
This includes therapeutic eurythmy movement and treatment, the use of herbs, Art therapy and other methods of integrative health care.
2.Women Health Forum
The Women Health forum is a quarterly event that takes place at Heliopolis University, which aims at raising women’s awareness on integrative health approaches, by providing fun & engaging activities and talks to help them connect with themselves on mental & spiritual levels.
Children Health Project
The Children Health Project aims to provide integrative health services to children across the rural areas of Egypt & thus started with the 13 Villages Initiative children & is working to expand its services much further.
The project also aims to help parents care for the integrative health of their children in a holistic manner by:
– Providing health checkups to the children in SEKEM School & kindergartens located within SEKEM Group.
– Providing workshops for children that tackle multiple holistic health topics, such as personal hygiene & nutrition.
– Providing workshops for parents that tackle holistic health multiple topics, such as fever management & fasting and the healthy use of media in childhood and adolescence.
Anthroposophic Medicine Training
Service provided by IHC, tutors from IHC
HU-IHC facilitates the foundation studies in Anthroposophic Medicine designed by the Arelshiem Klinik in Switzerland through an 8 months program to Heliopolis University staff & students.
HU-IHC team tutors the program students, along with Dr. Veera Panch from India, who is qualified Anthroposophic physician since 2015, a certified trainer for Anthroposophic medicine teaching since 2016 & owns India’s first Anthroposophic Clinic.
The desired outcome is to raise awareness & increase the number of anthroposophic medicine practitioners in Egypt.
Development
Tracks
- SDG 1: No poverty
- SDG 8 : Decent work & economic growth
- SDG 9: Industry innovation & infrastructure
- SDG 12: Responsible consumption & production
- SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals
- SVG 1: Lifelong learning & potential unfolding
- SVG 10 Circular economy
- SVG 12: ethical finance
- SVG 13: Responsible consumption & sustainable lifestyle
- SVG 14: Integral organizational development & Leadership
- SVG 16: Social transformation