Health and Wellness

Are health and wellness the same thing?

According to Answers.com:

"Health and wellness are not synonyms. Health refers simply to a physical body being free from diseases, but wellness is an overall balance of your physical, social, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, environmental, and occupational well-being."

And here's a working definition of "wellness" from the National Wellness Institute: 

"Wellness is multi-dimensional and holistic, encompassing lifestyle, mental and spiritual well-being, and the environment."

Google “wellness” and you’ll find more than 500 million results. Lots of interest out there, and for good reason. Public awareness of the value of promoting wellness  is growing.

• Harvard University did a study in 2010 showing that “...medical costs fall about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs.”
• The Wall Street Journal's April 2012 article, “The Simple Idea That Is Transforming Health Care” tells us,“A focus on quality if life helps medical providers see the big picture—and makes for healthier, happier patients.”
• Rosemarie Kobau, a public-health adviser on quality-of-life programs at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) points out that, "Well-being moves us closer to looking at health in a positive sense—as more than the absence of illness."

One element of “wellness” that you may have noticed in both the Answers.com and National Wellness Institute definitions above, is spirituality. Many people today believe that spirituality exists within, but also extends beyond the borders of organized religion. And that's a good thing, because university level research continues to point to the importance of spirituality as a key element of health care.

Christina Puchalski, MD, MS, Founder of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, tells us: "...spirituality is essential to all of medicine and healthcare.”

Mary Baker Eddy, a 19th century pioneer in the area of health and spirituality, proved by her own life experience that deepening one’s spiritual awareness is an effective way to overcome ill health.

A recently posted article, Mary Baker Eddy, Pioneer on Health, says, “Eddy’s work in the healthcare arena broke through the glass ceiling that had yet to become a metaphor. Her ideas as an author, pastor, teacher, and healer charted the path for current thought on consciousness and health today. And in more ways than one, they still lead the way.”

Exclusive focus on the body in our search for health is being challenged on other fronts as well. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, writes in a July 31 New York Times article, “More Treatment, More Mistakes”:

• “More — more procedures, more testing, more treatment — is not always better.”

• “American doctors perform a staggering number of tests and procedures, far more than in other industrialized nations, and far more than we used to. Since 1996, the percentage of doctor visits leading to at least five drugs’ being prescribed has nearly tripled, and the number of M.R.I. scans quadrupled.”

Challenging old models of health care delivery and exploring health from a broader perspective is a healthy trend. Seeing physical health as the result of overall wellness, including spiritual well-being, may turn out to be one of the more efficient and practical ways to reform health care.