Health, Wellness, Well-being: What’s in a Word?
Health, wellness, wellbeing: Alberta
teachers are moving closer to implementing the new K-4 Wellness curriculum. As
Physical Educators, we need to come to a mutual understanding of some common words
used in our practice. Some terms, like health
and wellness,
have a long socio-linguistic history, while others, like well-being, are a more recent
addition to the health education lexicon. What do these terms mean, and why
does it matter?
According
to the World Health Organization, health is “a state of complete physical,
mental, and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity” (WHO, 2018).
This definition was adopted in 1946, and it signalled reformed understanding of
health. Rather than seeing health as individuals not being sick, this
definition emphasized seeking knowledge about all the complex factors (social,
mental, environmental, occupational, financial, intellectual, and spiritual)
that influence a person who is living with, or without, illness. The adopters
of this definition recognized that health was a social contract between people –
not merely the outcome of individual choices.
Wellness has been
defined as “a multidimensional state of being describing the existence of
positive health in an individual as exemplified by quality of life and sense of
well-being” (Corbin
& Pangrazi, 2001, p.1). The term
came into common practice because of the work of Florence Nightingale, although
it has been used since the time of Socrates (Johnson
& Click, 2017). Several
theoretical models exist, and many of them place self-responsibility as central
to developing wellness (Roscoe, 2009; Williams, 2009). In these models, wellness is seen as a
positive outcome of health, and an individual attains this state through balancing
multiple dimensions such as nutrition, physical activity, stress, context, and
spirituality.
Where
does well-being come into play? Well-being, a derivative of “be well”, refers generally
to a person being in a positive state. Difficult to measure and used
interchangeably with both health and wellness, wellbeing/well-being/well being
does not have a settled definition (Marjanen,
Ornellas & Mantynen, 2016) or even a common spelling. Rather than measuring well-being, researchers
look for evidence, or indicators, of well-being. These indicators generally aim to measure
people living satisfying lives and is a growing area of research worth keeping
an eye on over the next few years.
So
why does it matter what term we use? Health – wellness- wellbeing – isn’t it
all the same? Definitions matter because if we look to the origins of the
words, wellness places emphasis on
individual responsibility and health
emphasizes collective responsibility. The word we choose changes how we teach
the curriculum. If we see wellness as a
state of being and a component of health, then we understand that society influences
individual wellbeing: that the social and physical environment of individuals
can influence their ability to sleep and eat well, drink clean water, and feel
safe.
Arguably, if we
see health as a component of wellness,
then we place personal decision-making above society’s responsibility to the
individual. Absence of positive wellbeing could be judged as the fault of an individual
who makes bad choices by eating junk food, drinking too much wine, or not
sleeping enough. Instead of considering all the factors that might influence a
lack of sleep, like a railroad track built through the centre of a town,
individual choices, like drinking coffee too late in the afternoon, can be
blamed. Keeping the focus on health is a reminder that being well
results from a variety of factors, some of which are beyond our personal
control.
So, the question
for discussion becomes: are we teaching a Wellness
curriculum or Health and Physical
Education? I look forward to discussing this idea further.
Submitted by: Astrid Kendrick, Ed.D
References
Corbin, C.B.
& Pantrazi, R.P. (2001). Toward a uniform definition of wellness: A
commentary. President’s Council on
Physical Fitness and Sport Research, 3(15), 3-6. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED470691.pdf
Harper, D.
(2018). Well. Online etymology dictionary.
Retrieved from https://www.etymonline.com/word/well
Johnston, J.,
& Click, E. R. (2017). Wellness. In J. Fitzpatrick (Ed.), Encyclopedia
of nursing research (4th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing
Company. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/spennurres/wellness/0?institutionId=261
Marjanen, P.,
Ornellas, A. & Mantynen, L. (2016). Determining holistic child well-being:
Critical reflections on theory and dominant models. Child Indicators Research, 10(3), 633-647. doi: https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1007/s12187-016-9399-6
Nicola, R. M.
(2004). Health. In M. J. Stahl (Ed.), Encyclopedia of health care
management, sage. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/sageeohcm/health/0?institutionId=261
Roscoe,
L. J. (2009). Wellness: A review of theory and measurement for counselors. Journal of Counseling and Development : JCD,
87(2), 216-226. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6678.2009.tb00570.x Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2009.tb00570.x
Williams,
A. (2009). The wellness culture: Self-Responsibility at Last. IDEA Fitness
Journal, 6(9), 28–35. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=44455878&site=ehost-live
World
Health Organization. (2018). Constitution
of WHO: Principles. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/about/mission/en/
