What is Wellness?

(noun) the optimal state of health of individuals and groups. There are two focal concerns: the realisation of the fullest potential of an individual physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually and economically, and the fulfillment of one's role expectations in the family, community, place of worship, workplace and other settings*

What's the difference?

Wellness can sometimes be used interchangeably with the words to the right, so we've highlighted the differences for you.

Health

  • Health focuses on the physical ailments one may or may not be experiencing.
  • Wellness goes beyond health - absence of disease is one of the requirements for wellness.**

Wellbeing

  • Wellbeing is often referred to as "the balance-point between an individual's resources and the challenges he or she faces."**

Quality of Life

  • Quality of life pertains to one's perception of their health and life as a whole.
  • The World Health Organization offers its own assessment for this: WHOQOL

Why is it important?

As a Booth student, you most likely have great aspirations for your career. Whether you have created this goal because you want to provide for your family, make a lasting impact, solve societies most difficult issues, some combination of the previous, or something completely different, prioritizing your personal wellness can greatly benefit your journey to realizing those goals. In some instances, ignoring foundational wellness dimensions such as your physical health can even prevent you from reaching personal or professional goals you have for yourself.

How do I achieve perfect Wellness?

While it would be great to achieve a point in life in which you feel totally accomplished in your physical, emotional, spiritual, occupational, social, financial, environmental, and intellectual wellness, more often than not there are always going to be a areas of wellness in which you feel you can improve. We focus on progress vs. perfection, as the journey is just as important as the destination.

Everyone has different priorities and competing demands, so everyone's wellness plan can be unique to them.  It can take time to decide on the wellness balance that works for you in life right now. However, it is typically fairly obvious when one dimension of wellness is being neglected and endangering the balance of other aspects of your life. That's why we're here!

Feeling Out of Balance? We Can Help.

*World Health Organization Definition of Wellness

1. Bart, R., Ishak, W. W., Ganjian, S., Jaffer, K. Y., Abdelmesseh, M., Hanna, S., Gohar, Y., Azar, G., Vanle, B., Dang, J., & Danovitch, I. (2018). The Assessment and Measurement of Wellness in the Clinical Medical Setting: A Systematic Review. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 15(9-10), 14–23.