Health & Wellness: An intrinsic notion

Posted in Medshield Wellness   |   March 4th, 2019

According to the World Health Organisation “Wellness is an active development of becoming mindful of, and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life. Health however, is the overall mental and physical state of an individual”. The main difference between health and wellness is that health is the goal and wellness is the active process of accomplishing it.

When it comes down to health versus wellness, you cannot have one without the other, if both healthiness and happiness are top priorities in your life. Therefore both health and wellness are of equal importance. Your Wellness Benefits encourage you to take charge of your health through preventative tests and procedures. At Medshield, we encourage members to have necessary tests done at least once a year. Your well-being is important to us and we know that through preventative healthcare it is possible to diagnose underlying health issues earlier. Our goal is to help you get the right care, at the right time, in the right place. The 2019 benefit options were designed with each member’s interest at heart, taking into consideration what the members need and what medical services are available in the healthcare space.

As wellness is a state of well-being and process that applies to the “entire person”, people aren’t one-dimensional—our lives comprise many facets, including these interconnected dimensions of wellness that make for a healthy being:

• Social Wellness is the ability to relate to and connect with other people in our world. Our ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with family, friends and co-workers contributes to our Social Wellness.
• Emotional Wellness is the ability to understand ourselves and cope with the challenges life can bring. The ability to acknowledge and share feelings of anger, fear, sadness or stress; hope, love, joy and happiness in a productive manner contributes to our Emotional Wellness.
• Spiritual Wellness is the ability to establish peace and harmony in our lives. The ability to develop congruency between values and actions and to realize a common purpose that binds creation together contributes to our Spiritual Wellness
• Environmental Wellness is the ability to recognize our own responsibility for the quality of the air, the water and the land that surrounds us. The ability to make a positive impact on the quality of our environment, be it our homes, our communities or our planet contributes to our Environmental Wellness.
• Occupational Wellness is the ability to get personal fulfilment from our jobs or our chosen career fields while still maintaining balance in our lives. Our desire to contribute in our careers to make a positive impact on the organizations we work in and to society as a whole leads to Occupational Wellness.
• Intellectual Wellness is the ability to open our minds to new ideas and experiences that can be applied to personal decisions, group interaction and community betterment. The desire to learn new concepts, improve skills and seek challenges in pursuit of lifelong learning contributes to our Intellectual Wellness.
• Physical Wellness is the ability to maintain a healthy quality of life that allows us to get through our daily activities without undue fatigue or physical stress. The ability to recognize that our behaviours have a significant impact on our wellness and adopting healthful habits (routine check-ups, a balanced diet, exercise, etc.) while avoiding destructive habits (tobacco, drugs, alcohol, etc.) will lead to optimal Physical Wellness.

At Medshield, we encourage members to examine the different dimensions of wellness and recognize that they are interconnected. No dimension stands alone. Each dimension is related to others in different ways and to different degrees. A change in one dimension will likely affect other domains. This means that if you make a positive change in one domain, you may experience a positive effect in another without even making an effort. For example, if you take just a couple of deep breaths after you arrive home after work, you may find that helps you make the transition from work to home more smoothly. That’s because a little deep breathing helps calm and centre you. Once you enter your home, you may find yourself a little patient with family members or friends, or perhaps you’ll discover you’re a little more able to make healthy food choices for dinner. -Little actions lead to big rewards

Each of Medshield’s 7 Benefit options have liberal wellness benefits available. With the Wellness Benefit our members have access to essential tests for early diagnosis and preventative care purposes

Health Risk Assessments can be obtained from any of the Medshield Pharmacy Network Providers, Clicks Pharmacies, and any GP that is part of the Medshield General Practitioner Network or at a Medshield Corporate Wellness Day.

The following tests are covered under the Health Risk Assessment:

• Cholesterol
• Blood Glucose
• Blood Pressure
• Body Mass Index (BMI)
• Child Immunisations at:
  • Medshield Pharmacy Network Providers
  • Clicks Pharmacies
  • Family Practitioner Network

Every day presents a variation of choices to improve your mental/emotional, physical and social well-being. It is import to find a balance between these aspects of your health and life. Ultimate health comes from wellness, from making the right choices and working on achieving goals that are based on sound health information and healthy outlooks. You only have one life to live, live it with vigour, passion and a healthy mind-set.

Sources

https://wellness.ucr.edu/seven_dimensions.html