Defining Medical Wellness

Fall 2003 Medical Wellness Newsletter

Before a new discipline or profession develops standards, it should have a clear conceptual definition. The Medical Wellness Association intends to help integrate the field of medical wellness by defining appropriate industry guidelines and terminology.

Today’s changing healthcare environment requires an integrative approach to medical care. Increasing medical costs threaten the economic vitality of healthcare options and limit the choices for both providers and patients. Many people are striving for optimal health and wellness. They realize medical science can prolong their lives, but they also want to live well and be healthy throughout their entire lives.

According to the World Health Organization, health is defined as a state of optimal well-being, not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. There have been many terms used to describe wellness. These include optimal health, health promotion and total health. Optimal well-being requires the balancing of lifestyle and health related dimensions of the whole person. These dimensions of health include physical, mental, emotional, environmental, spiritual and social components. The ever-developing field of medical wellness is serving the need of helping individuals improve their health through the process of wellness practices and medical science.

"Medical wellness" is the practice of health and medical care relating to wellness outcomes.

The more specific definition of medical wellness is: an approach to delivering health care that considers multiple influences on a person's health and consequently multiple modalities for treating and preventing disease as well as promoting optimal well-being.

Medical wellness integrates healthcare providers through medical and wellness practitioners working together. Whether you are a physician, therapist, allied health professional or wellness practitioner, medical wellness can provide real solutions for today's changing healthcare environment.