don's report archive

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Wellness Trend Number One: Defining Wellness In Specific, REAL Ways
Saturday May 3, 2008

The first trend noted in the survey (mentioned in my previous essay) expressed what I consider a friendly form of competition to give wellness clearer meaning distinct from medical treatment, health risk reduction, spa treatments and basic fitness and nutritional basics. Rod Lees of Brisbane, Australia, put it this way: "The most significant trend in the wellness movement is your concept of REAL wellness." Of course, a trend is not the same as a reality. Rod continued: "However, in Australia, we are still struggling with getting the traditional concept off the ground. The challenge will be to get the corporate world to take hold of the broader concept and see the value in investing time and money in this area. We have a long way to go."

Well, we all have a long way to go but the trend is "we've started." For decades, the term wellness has been used freely by nearly everybody who had something to sell or, in a medical context, a treatment or program to apply. It has been bandied about as if it were self-evident, which never was the case. Now it is being described in ways much more consistent with the goals of the few who want it to apply to a good life well-lived apart from a medical context, as a philosophy that embraces life fully and rationally. The main trend noted in the survey is a widespread desire among wellness organizations to promote a particular meaning both specific and normative.

Wellness may have many interpretations, but some, particularly in Europe, are consistent with and basically the same as REAL wellness as described in "Aging Beyond Belief." This is a mindset or philosophy focused on reason, exuberance and liberty in the pursuit of quality of life. It is totally apart from risk reduction, disease management and the medicalization of health. It is not so different from the National Wellness Institute's definition ("Wellness is an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices towards, a more successful existence") but it seems more down-to-earth. Who can get energized or organized about "an active process?" What does that mean, anyway? As opposed to what - an "inactive" process?

Anyway, the precise definition of wellness is not important, but the contents or elements of wellness dialogues, promotions and programs do matter. Mindsets, commitments and resolutions matter. Philosophies matter. The trend number one, therefore, and this could be wishful thinking, is an appreciation for REAL wellness, at least in some circles. Under this banner, wellness promoters are drawing attention to skill areas like meaning and purpose, ethics, an understanding and appreciation of scientific approaches to social and moral problems, celebrating the important of learning critical thinking skills, advocating an understanding of the science and dynamics of happiness and incorporating other issues that address and impact quality of life.

Lutz Hertel, staff head of the German Wellness Association, wrote about the trend most evident in his part of the world: "The key trend I note is a growing understanding and acceptance in wealthy nations that health for aging societies will come down to a matter of lifestyle choices rather than improvements in modern medicine. The shift from risk factor and disease prevention to positive options like quality of life, meaning, purpose and ethics within the wellness provider community is a hopeful trend."

Personally, I would like to see all wellness programming tied to, that is associated with implications for, things that count most to nearly everyone. This means linking wellness to politics, sex and religion in order to get everyone engaged, even at the cost of a little excitement. I realize that this preference might take a while before it gains a foothold in corporate settings.

In the end, it is probably not so important how we characterize wellness with definitions, as is what gets introduced, debated, explored and understood in a wellness context. In all the ways that REAL and other wellness lifestyle choices for a more healthful and otherwise successful existence are advanced, sustainability will be vital. As Judd Allen observed, "I do not see any firm trends. In my view the instability is due to a lack of lasting lifestyle change. Low lifestyle change success rates force wellness promoters to reinvent their goals and repackage their offers. This instability might change if new interest in supportive environments takes root. There is an increasing tendency to see that efforts to promote individual initiative are combined with cultural support."

Wellness promoters are a diverse lot. Some are athletic, many if not most are not. Some are philosophical, some not. So it goes with every skill area -- although wellness promoters are quite knowledgeable about diverse areas in the physical, mental and meaning/purpose domains. The emphasis, style, approach and priorities still vary quite a bit. It seems likely that there will always be large differences in how wellness is viewed, and a growing acceptance of this fact might be a related trend in itself.

One quality that, in my view, ought to unite all wellness promoters, however the term is defined and advanced, is reason. This is a lifestyle value that Tom Flynn among many others has described as embracing "reason, compassion and scientific methods, uniquely powerful tools for building the good life - in this life." (Op-Ed, Free Inquiry, April 2008.)

In future reports, a summary of additional trends noted from responses to the other four questions will be provided. Meanwhile, go ahead and create a few trends of your own, preferably of a REAL wellness nature. While looking, of course, on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of factual knowledge. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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