Definition: Wellness
(alternative medicine)
(Modified Revision of 17:25, 26 Mar
2005)
Wellness is generally used to mean a healthy
balance of the mind-body and spirit that results in an
overall feeling of well-being. It has been used in the
context of alternative medicine since Halbert Dunn, a physician, began using
the phrase high level wellness in the fifties,
based on a weekly series of thirteen lectures at a
Unitarian Universalist Church in Arlington, Virginia, in
the United States. (Also published in Halbert L. Dunn, High
Level Wellness, Beatty Press, Arlington, VA., 1961.)
The modern concern with wellness did not, however, become
popular until the 1970's.[1]
1 Introduction
Alternative approaches to wellness is often denoted by
the use of two difference phrases: health and wellness,
and wellness programs. These kind of wellness
programs offer complementary and alternative medicine
techniques to improve wellness. Whether these techniques
actually improve physical health is a different question.
James Randi and the James Randi Educational Foundation are
outspoken critics of this alternative new age concept of wellness. The
behaviors in the pursuit of wellness often include many health related practices, such as natural therapies.
Wellness, as a luxury pursuit, is found obviously in
the more affluent societies because it involves managing
the body state after the basic needs of food, shelter and
basic medical care have already been met. Many of the
practices applied in the pursuit of wellness, in fact,
are aimed at controlling the side effects of affluence,
such as obesity and inactivity. Wellness grew
as a popular concept starting in the 19th century, just
as the middle class began emerging in the industrialized
world, and a time when a newly prosperous public had the
time and the resources to pursue wellness and other forms
of self-improvement.
Wellness is a modern subset of alternative medicine.
It, also, includes many practices that a lot of people
have a hard time associating with alternative medicine.
Wellness carries little of the negative baggage of
alternative medicine, since it is not about gravely ill
people avoiding conventional medicine in favor of dubious
alternative treatments. Instead, wellness is usually
about healthy people trying to get even healthier by
doing perfectly sensible things. The economist Paul
Pilzer in Wellness Revolution writes that the
wellness industry is already a 200 billion-dollar
business, with most of its revenue coming from vitamin
sales and health club memberships.
2 Wellness Programs
Definitions of wellness vary depending upon who is
promoting it. These wellness promoters try to facilitate
a healthier population and a higher quality of life.
Wellness can be defined as the pursuit of a healthy,
balanced lifestyle. Wellness, as an alternative
concept, is generally thought to mean more than the mere
absence of disease; rather it is a optimal state of
health. Wellness is pursued by people interested in
recovering from ill health or specific health conditions
or by those interested in optimizing their already good
state of health.
Supporters of these programs believe that many factors
contribute to wellness: living in a clean environment,
eating organic food, regularly engaging in physical exercise, balance in career; family; and relationships, and developing religious
faith. But, there are two basic widely different
approaches to wellness. The original faith-based wellness
programs offer a spiritual approach which is in
opposition to the more recent secular wellness promoters.[2]
Some well known wellness promoters, or speakers, would
be: Deepak Chopra, Ken Cooper, Stephen Gould, Robert Schuller, Elaine Sullivan, and Andrew Weil.
2.1 Secular-based wellness programs
The aging population participates in wellness programs
in order to feel better and have more energy. Wellness
programs allows individuals to take increased
responsibility for their health behaviors. People often
enroll in a private wellness program in order to improve fitness, stop smoking, or to learn how to manage
their weight.
Workplace wellness programs are recognized by more and
more companies for their value in improving health and
well-being of their employees. They are part of a
company's health and safety program. These wellness
programs are design to improve employee morale, loyalty,
and productivity. They could consist of as little as a
gym full of exercise equipment that is available to their
employees on company property during the workday. But
they may also cover smoking cessation programs, nutrition; weight; or stress management training, health risk
assessments, and health screenings.
2.2 Faith-based wellness programs
Faith organizations often provide an array of services
to residents in need, such as food, shelter, clothing,
childcare and senior services in the community. Faith
based wellness ministries are simply wellness programs
sponsored by the faith-based community which are similar
to those offered by the business community, but generally
also offer information on the quasi-spiritual, New Age
and quasi-religious aspects of wellness. Here, wellness
is viewed as a quest for spiritual wholeness. Robert Schuller's be happy Beatitudes. for example, expounds upon
the New Testament and presents eight
positive principles for fulfillment. These types of
conferences offer themes like: Faith, Hope and Health. New Age guru Deepak Chopra, author of
more than 40 books on spirituality and health, offers an
alternative and New Age spirituality perspective to
wellness.
3 See also:
Mind-Body Interventions
is the name of a NCCAM classification, that coves a
variety of techniques designed to enhance the mind's
capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms.
4 External Links
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