don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

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

You are cordially invited to "attend" a webinar I am conducting on October 22nd at 11:00 AM Eastern. The topic is "How (and Why) to Gently Shift Programming from Risk Reduction to Quality of Life." The one-hour webinar is designed for those involved with wellness programs at worksites, such as large companies, universities and medical centers, nearly all of which have such offerings. The program is produced and presented by the National Wellness Institute or NWI. Here are the basics about the webinar should you wish to enroll, taken from the NWI website.

Introduction: A Webinar about Taking Worksite Wellness to the Next Level

Don Ardell believes the purpose of worksite wellness should be to promote REAL wellness, not risk reduction, cost saving, or medical management. He insists these are simply preparatory steps to offering REAL wellness.

In this thought-provoking webinar, Don will address ways to promote an improved understanding of key life areas as part of making better choices—and make a case that doing so is worth the risk of a bit of controversy. He will highlight the nature of a recommended next stage in the 40-year-old wellness movement and outline specific ways to speed a transition from medical management, testing, and the rudiments of physical health (fitness, nutrition and stress management) to the promotion of Reason, Exuberance And Liberty (REAL) for quality of life enhancement.

Don questions why companies and other sponsors of wellness efforts have not offered critical thinking skills, insights on the science of happiness, meaning and purpose assessments, explorations of ethical values and dialogues about pathways to exuberant living, personal freedoms and stewardship of the environment. Join in the discussion as Don challenges you to "rock the boat" and take on these areas of REAL wellness despite their potential for controversy.

The cost for NWI members is $35; the non-member rate is $65. Prices include a link to the recorded webinar which will be available one day after the event. t will be accessible at any time for an unlimited number of views at no additional charge). To sign up, go to http://www.nationalwellness.org/index.php?id_tier=128&id_c=170

You may be wondering: will worksite wellness ever be the same after this landmark event?

Well, not if it is indeed a landmark event, a watershed in the short history of the wellness movement in general and wellness as it is practiced at American worksites in particular. Not if it contributes to a process that, sooner not later leads to an entirely new rationale for worksite wellness. Not if it does indeed spark a different agenda and outcomes/results, the likes of which could never be expected of current worksite programming.

Promoting a watershed transformation in the way wellness is seen and advanced at American worksites is my objective. Always aim high, I say.

The Modest Benefits of Worksite Wellness

For two years, I have written essays at this site and given speeches all over about the need for the transition just sketched. I have suggested that so-called "worksite wellness" is not wellness at all, but a disconnected series of health education and prevention efforts.  These efforts are led by doctors, nurses and varied medical and health professionals. Worksite wellness has been dominated by educational initiatives and activities designed to save corporations medical costs (by reducing the utilization of medical services).

These entry level efforts have been beneficial. They have done some good. I am not in any way opposed to them. Instead, I am calling for increased expectations and, with such, a different agenda and a new process.

Let me briefly acknowledge the benefits of risk reduction/prevention starter efforts. It is well established that nearly 40 percent of all deaths are linked to preventable causes like smoking, alcohol, lack of exercise and poor diet. Wellness programs, even those limited to a non-REAL wellness agenda, have helped employers lower illness rates. This has benefited companies via less absenteeism, reduced medical costs and so on. This year, 58 percent of companies that offered any kind of health benefits also provided these basic so-called wellness programs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's Employer Health Benefits Survey. Among employers with more that 200 workers, the figure is even higher: 93 percent. A Wall Street Journal op-ed piece in June featured heady testimony from Steve Burd, Safeway's CEO who explained that his company saw premium variations up to $780 for employees and twice that for families that reached health targets via wellness programming.

Clearly, there is nothing wrong with any of this, in fact, I urge that the foundation level efforts be continued.

Real Wellness

However, as Peggy Lee's famous song refrain put it, "Is that all there is?" In the movie, Michael Caine's "Alfie" wanted to know, "What's it all about?" Could it be that the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about, insofar as worksite wellness is concerned? I say "no way." Let me tell you about REAL wellness and what worksite wellness COULD address and accomplish.

REAL wellness is a mindset and lifestyle founded on reason, exuberant living and liberty. A worksite wellness orientation of this nature would focus on more than health: It would transform the worksite into a learning environment that would interest Peggy Lee, Alfie and those who do the Hokey Pokey. Employees would be encouraged to ask questions more than they would be given answers. They would have daily opportunities to ponder the great questions that philosophers have addressed for centuries. Exposed to this form of REAL wellness, employees would concern themselves less with avoiding illness and more with boosting the quality of their lives.

REAL wellness is a term associated with the agenda the wellness movement started out to address—positive choices for positive reasons. It is separate and different from (but not at all at cross-purposes with) prevention, risk reduction and medical management. Here are two important distinctions. Each represents a substantial advance from the status quo.

1. New players (staff) must be brought in, shifting the focus from medical to explorations of the good life. Today, worksite wellness staff are almost exclusively from medical, health and fitness-oriented professions. REAL wellness offerings must include philosophers, social scientists and experts whose knowledge supports an expanded educational agenda beyond physical health topics.
   
   
2. The focus must shift from giving information to stimulating thinking. 

George Lukas on REAL Wellness at the Workplace

The filmmaker George Lucas spoke about educating for REAL wellness in a recent forum. He expressed a preference for learning using two classical forms of teaching effective for shaping how people ponder and act.

1. The philosophical-intellectual school of learning wherein a teacher engages and encourages with questions and discussions.
   
   
2. The hands-on artisan school of learning wherein a master takes on a few apprentices, showing them how to develop and apply one skill or another.

Lucas lamented how these forms of learning got swept aside in modern times in favor of overloading students with information. He said: "We wanted to teach them what to think, and in the process neglected to give them the critical skills needed to do it." For Lucas, "how" is more important than "what" to think; with the former, the latter is easier to do well. These principles apply as much to education for REAL wellness for adults at the workplace as in school classrooms for children. Lucas compared today's classroom with an assembly line. At the end of the line (i.e., conclusion of the course of study), students spit back information and get a diploma. "That doesn't work."

Lucas has formed a foundation to research, promote and apply emotional intelligence, storytelling and technical prowess "to engage students and turn out sharper thinkers who can thrive in an age of information overload." (Go to www.edutopia.org to learn more about this endeavor. Also, see a feature story written by Joe Mullich, "World Business Forum," Special Advertising Section, Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2009.)

A Sketch of a REAL Wellness Worksite Agenda

The agenda for REAL wellness beyond risk reduction and prevention will encompass life areas that influence everyone's quality of life. These include the nature of and quest for happiness, ethical behavior, meaning and purpose, thinking critically, environmental sensitivity and global awareness. Employees must be guided to find and evaluate information they need for life quality. The latter is shaped by daily decision-making and choices that enhance or detract from well-being and the experience of positive states. All this, of course, must be done while addressing and managing difficult life trials and tribulations, some work-related, most probably not. Civility and emotional intelligence are at least as important to employees and employers as blood pressure readings and body fat composition measures. As Lucas noted, "People don't get fired for being stupid. They get fired for not be able to work with other people."

Worksite wellness must be far more interdisciplinary than it is at present. 

Science should be extolled as part of worksite wellness, along with history, biology, astronomy and the breakthroughs affecting the significance of other 21st century topics. Many adults functioning in worksites, like today's students, did not master the relevance of these fields in school. It's never too late.

One of the laments associated with worksite wellness is that those who need it (i.e., advice re healthy living) the most are usually not interested in participating in opportunities provided. That is less likely to be the case when the shift to REAL wellness, offered in the manner sketched, takes place at worksites in the months and years ahead. Who would NOT be interested in such discussions associated with REAL worksite wellness, managed in skillful ways by trained educators?

Whether you tune in to the webinar or not, visit the SeekWellness Wellness Center in the days to come to learn more about efforts to transition to REAL wellness at the workplace.

Be well. Always look on the bright side of life. 

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MEANING DOMAIN under the skill area of applied wellness. 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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