WELLNESS PROGRAMS
Wellness
Wellness promoters attempt to promote a healthier
population and a higher quality of life. Rather than
the aim of recovering from illness, these wellness programs
aim at illness prevention in both the home and working
environments.
Many companies are adopting Wellness Programs as part
of their responsibility to employees. Such programs
benefit the employee as well as the business, resulting
in less days off sick, better stress management and
overall improved work performance.
The Wellness Continuum
Wellness can be regarded as the starting end of the
continuum to illness. Your perception of how “well”
you are is your belief as to your current health status.
This varies significantly between individuals. This
perception is the total outcome of how you feel about
four major areas of your life:
- Body – Physical state of
aches, pains and visible signs of illness
- Mind - Emotional and mental Factors,
not so visible
- Relationships – Friends,
Family, Work Associates
- Spirit – Life enjoyment
This four areas are commonly referred to as
“The Wellness Index”.
Reaching a state of wellness is associated with living
an optimal quality of life beyond that which material
wealth and external influences can offer. Achieving
a state of total wellness is achieving real wealth.
Wellness connects the four major areas of your life
to deliver both inner-peace and physical health.
A large part of your wellness is your own perception
of how well you are.
If you are really well, you have less illness. But
it is about the inner journey. A person can perceive
themselves as ‘well’, yet have inner pathology.
A person can believe themselves to be ill, with no physical
illness.
Other definitions of Wellness relate to alternative
medicines and treatments, however, I believe these fall
well short of the true sphere of wellness.
Wellness Programs
Beyond the 4 forces secular wellness approach we outline
here, other wellness programs adopt an opposing faith-based
or spiritual approach.
Secular-based wellness programs –
are based on individuals taking increased responsibility
for their health behaviours, and may include additional
aspects such as ‘stop-smoking’ programs.
Workplace wellness programs are recognized by more and
more companies for their value in improving health and
well-being of their employees.
Faith-based wellness programs - sponsored
by the faith-based community, in addition to basic health
needs, also offer information on the quasi-spiritual,
New Age and quasi-religious aspects of wellness in a
quest for spiritual wholeness. Robert Schuller and Deepak
Chopra are both advocates of faith based wellness.
Wellness Advocates and Resources
- Deepak Chopra
- author of more than 40 books on spirituality and
health, offers an alternative and New Age spirituality
perspective to wellness
- Stephen
Jay Gould - American evolutionary biologist, writer,
and historian of science
- Robert Schuller,
American Protestant minister and television evangelist
well known for his "Hour of Power"
- Elaine
Sullivan
- Amit
K. Saiya - Harmonie Research Foundation
- Andrew
Weil - Advocate of Self Healing
- Charlotte Gerson
- The Gerson Institute, Alternative Cancer Treatment
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