Dr. Halbert L. Dunn was the first physician to coin the term “wellness” in 1961. Dr. Dunn saw wellness as a lifestyle approach for achieving higher states of physical and psychological well-being. More than merely disease prevention, he described it as a commitment to personal mastery combined with environmental awareness. Prevention refers to not having some form of sickness happen. Wellness is viewed as the pursuit of physical and psychological excellence. In other words, wellness is about thriving not just surviving. It is a holistic philosophy that places equal focus on mind, body, and spirit.
Paul Zane Pilzer writes in The Wellness Revolution (John Wiley, 2002, page 16), “Wellness is the next natural step forward in our destiny and in the advancement of humankind. By extending your years of strength and wellness, you can accomplish those things you really want to accomplish.” Many individuals find that they are living longer but not better lives. Wellness is one possible answer to this problem.
Wellness Center
Like drug and alcohol treatment facilities, wellness centers exist for intensive emersion in a wellness program at a residential or outpatient level of care. Wellness center is a board term and can include Spiritual and Meditation Retreats, Cancer wellness communities, Diabetes wellness centers, juice fasting centers, and weight management or loss centers among others. Unlike drug treatment centers, wellness centers have different licensing criteria and may not have medical monitoring present.
Wellness Coaching
Wellness coaches and lifestyle coaches are typically sought out by individuals who want to make changes in their lives. They may feel stress, overwhelmed, low energy, unfit and overweight, or that they are unhappy or unsatisfied and are not sure why. A wellness or life coach works to educate, support and empower the individual in gaining clarity as to their life goals and in making the necessary changes to achieve them. Some wellness coaches include: personal trainers, nutritionists, herbalists, yoga teachers or any number of other alternative medicine practitioners. Life Coaches may be certified or have a corporate or counseling background. Neither gives out medical, psychiatric or therapeutic advice or care. Coaching is not intended to heal or be therapy, but as a vehicle for co-creating a life goal, plan or life design.
Wellness coaches and life coaching programs view wellness as a state of optimal well-being that maximizes the individual’s potential. It is considered a life-long process of growing and enhancing the physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and environmental well-being of an individual. Wellness may be considered a choice to assume responsibility for the quality of one’s life. Many wellness practitioners focus on areas including: self-responsibility, exercise and fitness, nutrition, stress management, critical thinking, life purpose or spirituality, emotional intelligence, humor/play and fulfilling relationships.
When studying individuals who meet certain criteria for being the “wellest of the well,” research has found that these individuals possessed the following qualities to an uncommonly high degree:
- positive outlook and high self-esteem
- a sense of purpose in life
- sense of personal responsibility
- sense of humor and plenty of play time
- compassion & concern for others
- respect for the environment
- conscious commitment to growing and improving
- a sense of balance in life
- freedom from addictive behaviors
- good coping skills
- grounded in reality
- physically fit
- a capacity to love and to nurture
- good communicate skills
Corporate Wellness Programs
Obesity, tobacco use and stress are the most common and costly health hazards in the American workforce. Company Health and Wellness Programs are formally being created to address these issues and create a more grounded and satisfied workforce. Sometimes these programs are created with the assistance of the company’s EAP (Employee Assistance Program.) Corporate wellness programs are on the rise as one answer to skyrocketing healthcare costs. For more information on corporate wellness programs and replicable models on the web refer to:
- Wellness Councils of America
- Infinite Wellness Solutions
- Health Worksite Initiative
- America on the Move
- Partnership for Prevention
- Business Group on Health
- Be Active! Worksite Program
- American Cancer Society Workplace Solutions
- American Heart Association
- American Diabetes Association
[page updated February 2009]