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What is Wellness?

Gradient Ocean

Jim Stansbury

Jun 24, 2022

Worldwide

Categories:

Health, Mental Health, Wellness, Food, Exercise

What is Wellness?

Among many worldwide attempts to define these terms, I prefer this one:

The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as the active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health. Wellness is about more than just physical health. Most models of wellness include at least six dimensions (and sometimes up to 9 or 12):"


-Physical: Nourishing a healthy body through exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc.
-Mental: Engaging the world through learning, problem-solving, creativity, etc.
-Emotional: Being aware of, accepting and expressing our feelings, and understanding the feelings of others.
-Spiritual: Searching for meaning and higher purpose in human existence.
-Social: Connecting and engaging with others and our communities in meaningful ways.
-Environmental: Fostering positive interrelationships between planetary health and human actions, choices, and wellbeing.


On an individual scale, people these days confirm some of these elements. People often tell me they are very healthy – meaning not overweight, no cigarettes, lots of exercise, no medications, and rarely see a doctor. To them, being healthy means rarely being injured or ill because they make good personal decisions about getting and staying well. Others overlook injuries as part of their health and worry only about catastrophic illness. Accidents and injuries caused by someone or something else are not within anyone's control. However, highway collisions, fires, falls, contaminated water and food, and other unsafe products and environmental conditions are significant sources of emergency care and hospital stays. According to many studies of global health looking at mortality rates by age, income, and other variables, injuries can be the leading or second cause of death among young children, including traffic accidents, drownings, fires, and homicides.


With the pandemic, many people experienced increased anxiety and depression for various reasons, such as increased isolation and prolonged separation from family and friends. Hospitals stopped visitation, creating anguish for patients' families and the overtaxed health care workers. The Global Wellness Institute's definition incorporates the changes in global conditions brought on by the pandemic.


Health care is different than wellness, and it rapidly changes each year. Not long ago, health insurance paid for fixing things after they happened with little, or no, thought to prevention. Examples include heart attacks, stroke, cancer, and bone density loss. Today, health insurance providers embrace prevention, in part, through early detection. Finding things as early as possible is vital because it saves the cost of treatment to both the patient and the insurance company and increases the success of
medical care.


Local Delivery vs. Global Systems
Healthcare methods and access depend upon where you live in the world. You may see your aboriginal tribe's shaman for plant and animal-derived medications and poultices. Or, you may walk from home in your village or small town to a small hospital where all your doctors are available and practice. In larger cities, there may be highly advanced and sophisticated networks of private or public sector primary care physicians, specialists, laboratories, and hospitals, operating within massive governmental policies and regulations.


Globally, health systems are not the same or equal when evaluated against specific key goals. According to a study of 11 developed country health systems, the United States trails far behind other high-income countries on measures of health care affordability, administrative efficiency, equity, and outcomes. It ranked second in Care Process but last in Access to Care, Efficiency, Equity, and Outcomes. It spends the most per capita for the lowest success rates of these five goals.


Some of my clients who emigrated to the United States of America tell me they find our health system very high technology-based and less people focused. They compared it to their healthcare back home, in places like Italy, Costa Rica, and rural India, which they described care as high touch. There was less electronic lab reporting and more conversational, hands-on exams.


In one "back home" example, an ultrasound was administered by her doctor, who then told her immediately what the results showed and what care was needed. By contrast, in the United States, a technician did her ultrasound. An offsite specialist received the images electronically and analyzed them. The technician then transmitted the report electronically to the patient's doctor, who read the results. The patient met the doctor many days later to hear the results and the needed follow-up care.


Health care delivery is local. Today, people are much more aware of healthcare research, and there are significant trends for eating better food. People can wear their healthcare monitoring technology to measure conditions such as pulse, blood pressure, blood glucose, sleep patterns, and much more. Many developed countries are now catching up with other cultures in seeking locally-grown fruits and vegetables. Many restaurants now meet customer demand for locally grown produce. Supermarkets regularly stock certified organic foods, and as discussed in im4u. world's, "Community Gardens - For Your Health, Your Community, The Planet - Simply Start," local public gardening in urban spaces is a widespread initiative. We now know that while health care delivery may be local, its importance is global. C. Everett Koop, MD, the 13th United States Surgeon General, recognized that public health is not a local or national concern but a global one. "Health care matters to all of us some of the time; public health matters to all of us all of the time."


From the first case of Ebola in 1976 to the AIDs crisis in the 1980s and 1990s to our current COVID pandemic, there is ample evidence of the impossibility of isolating local cases to one country. COVID has forced people to rethink health and wellness.


You and your community have many choices to improve health and wellness. How can you get your hometown involved? Consider getting your local government and business leaders involved. Many towns have a 'walk with the Mayor' program. The Mayor invites the community to come out and go for a walk through a local park, for example. People get to walk, talk and socialize while getting exercise. Consider making this a weekly program and inviting other elected officials and business leaders to host a walk. It's a great way to connect your community with one another too.


Consider using this approach to host healthy cooking classes at your local community center, college, or high school. Don't forget to include mental health activities by adding yoga and meditation classes to your community wellness program. Get your healthcare providers involved. Many hospitals have motor vehicles outfitted to provide educational outreach and healthcare testing. Your hometown residents can earn points and win healthy choice prizes and recognition. Local businesses could sponsor the program and build brand awareness. A healthier, socially connected community is a rewarding outcome worth pursuing. It's time to get into action. And it is surprisingly easier than you may think.

Photo by Kaylee Garrett on Unsplash.

Jim Stansbury is a professional working in the healthcare insurance field.

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0522.108.01.062422

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