What is Wellness?

Gareth Hamblin

October 16, 2020

Health and wellness are very much interlinked.

The World Health Organisation defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Wellness can be defined as “the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health” (www.globalwellnessinstitute.org).

There are many models of wellness, all sharing commonalities and individual differences. However, all models highlight the interconnectedness between different aspects of life and how these dimensions interact with one another to positively impact an individual to lead a happy and fulfilling life.

At Go Well we have adopted the Six Dimensions of Wellness, developed by Dr Bill Hettler, co-founder of The National Wellness Institute (https://nationalwellness.org/resources/six-dimensions-of-wellness/).

This model recognises six areas of wellness;

Occupational

This recognises personal satisfaction through work and following a career path that is rewarding and fulfilling.

Physical

This recognises the benefits of physical exercise, healthy eating habits and acknowledging when you require specialist medical care.

Social

This area is about making positive contributions to the environment and community and developing positive relationships with others.

Intellectual

This refers to the importance of seeking creative mental activities and sharing knowledge with others.

Spiritual

This area recognises the development of individual beliefs, acceptance of others, being true to yourself in a way that is consistent with personal values and beliefs.

Emotional

This refers to the awareness and acceptance of feelings and the ability to manage these.

We explore how we support our colleagues in these areas, as well as how our programmes support the development of these in the children, adults and partners that we work with. We will be sharing a series of blog posts that will delve deeper into each area of wellness and expand on how we develop these in ourselves and the people that we work with.

We will measure the number of people that we impact via the Six Dimensions Model in the next 5 years in order to meet our ambitious vision:

‘To have a positive impact on the wellness of 1 million people by 2025’

We hope you found this blog helpful, for more information please contact garethhamblin@go-well.org.

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