The holiday season in the United States is concluding, bringing a time to focus on the new year and new beginnings. In many cultures, although the new year may be celebrated at different times in a ...calendar year, this annual milestone may lead to introspection about how to live "better" on personal, professional, and existential levels. The new year may also lead to renewed attention to making personal resolutions to support "wellness," promoting mental and physical health across different life domains.
ABSTRACT
Background
Strategies used by wellness teams (WTs) to foster local wellness policy (LWP) implementation have been documented, yet there remains a need to better understand how WTs respond to ...district‐level LWP requirements, particularly when bundled with additional health‐related policies. This study's goal was to explore how WTs implement Healthy Chicago Public School (CPS), a district‐led initiative focused on both LWP and other health policy implementation in the CPS district, one of the most diverse in the nation.
Methods
Eleven discussion groups were conducted with WTs in CPS. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, and thematically coded.
Results
Six overarching strategies used by WTs in working to achieve Healthy CPS include: (1) using district guides and resources to support planning, progress monitoring, and reporting; (2) under the leadership of wellness champions, as required by the district, facilitating engagement among staff, students, and/or families; (3) taking district guidance and adapting and integrating it into their schools' existing structures, curricula, and practices, often taking a holistic approach; (4) fostering linkages in the communities surrounding their schools to supplement internal school capacities; and (5) stewarding resources, time, and staff for sustainability.
Implications
Strategies for LWP implementation by WTs in urban and diverse schools include planning for staff turnover, integrating health and wellness into existing curricula and structures, and leveraging relationships with the local community.
Conclusion
WTs can play a critical role in supporting schools in diverse, urban districts to implement district‐level LWP and the plethora of related policies that schools are subject to at the federal, state, and district levels.
In recent years, teacher well-being has received increasing attention that has led to a plethora of empirical studies from various disciplines. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the ...clarification of the construct teacher well-being, add knowledge about the prevalence of teacher well-being and systematize predictors and outcomes of teacher well-being. A systematic review following the PRISMA-statement was applied to peer-reviewed papers published between the years 2000-2019 and a total of 98 studies were included in the final analysis. Heterogeneous approaches could be categorized into five distinct theoretical foundations. Empirical evidence did not confirm that teacher well-being is at risk. Among the variety of correlates and predictors of teacher well-being that could be categorized into general versus job-related categories on the individual or the contextual level, social relationships seem to play a pivotal role. Although empirical evidence regarding its outcomes is scarce, results suggest that teacher well-being influences teaching quality.
•The variety of research on teacher well-being can be allocated to distinct clusters.•A more precise and domain-specific definition of teacher well-being is promoted.•Social relationships play an important role for teacher well-being.•Outcomes of teacher well-being need more research attention.•Research on predictors and teacher well-being interventions need to be aligned.
Employers have increasingly invested in workplace wellness programs to improve employee health and decrease health care costs. However, there is little experimental evidence on the effects of these ...programs.
To evaluate a multicomponent workplace wellness program resembling programs offered by US employers.
This clustered randomized trial was implemented at 160 worksites from January 2015 through June 2016. Administrative claims and employment data were gathered continuously through June 30, 2016; data from surveys and biometrics were collected from July 1, 2016, through August 31, 2016.
There were 20 randomly selected treatment worksites (4037 employees) and 140 randomly selected control worksites (28 937 employees, including 20 primary control worksites 4106 employees). Control worksites received no wellness programming. The program comprised 8 modules focused on nutrition, physical activity, stress reduction, and related topics implemented by registered dietitians at the treatment worksites.
Four outcome domains were assessed. Self-reported health and behaviors via surveys (29 outcomes) and clinical measures of health via screenings (10 outcomes) were compared among 20 intervention and 20 primary control sites; health care spending and utilization (38 outcomes) and employment outcomes (3 outcomes) from administrative data were compared among 20 intervention and 140 control sites.
Among 32 974 employees (mean SD age, 38.6 15.2 years; 15 272 45.9% women), the mean participation rate in surveys and screenings at intervention sites was 36.2% to 44.6% (n = 4037 employees) and at primary control sites was 34.4% to 43.0% (n = 4106 employees) (mean of 1.3 program modules completed). After 18 months, the rates for 2 self-reported outcomes were higher in the intervention group than in the control group: for engaging in regular exercise (69.8% vs 61.9%; adjusted difference, 8.3 percentage points 95% CI, 3.9-12.8; adjusted P = .03) and for actively managing weight (69.2% vs 54.7%; adjusted difference, 13.6 percentage points 95% CI, 7.1-20.2; adjusted P = .02). The program had no significant effects on other prespecified outcomes: 27 self-reported health outcomes and behaviors (including self-reported health, sleep quality, and food choices), 10 clinical markers of health (including cholesterol, blood pressure, and body mass index), 38 medical and pharmaceutical spending and utilization measures, and 3 employment outcomes (absenteeism, job tenure, and job performance).
Among employees of a large US warehouse retail company, a workplace wellness program resulted in significantly greater rates of some positive self-reported health behaviors among those exposed compared with employees who were not exposed, but there were no significant differences in clinical measures of health, health care spending and utilization, and employment outcomes after 18 months. Although limited by incomplete data on some outcomes, these findings may temper expectations about the financial return on investment that wellness programs can deliver in the short term.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03167658.
Abstract
Background
Despite widespread efforts to create wellness programming in medical schools, there is a paucity of literature examining students’ perception of wellness and perceptions of these ...programs. With the inaugural class at the Arizona campus of Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine (MCASOM-AZ), an opportunity arose to establish an empirically evaluated wellness curriculum that most inclusively and effectively enables medical students to flourish for years to come. The initial wellness offerings included mental health, academic success, and disability services, curriculum-embedded seminars, wellness committee driven programming, and student-proposed wellness activities. We aimed to improve the relevance and impact of medical school wellness curricula by soliciting in-depth and longitudinal perspectives of medical students themselves. As MCASOM-AZ opened in 2017, the student body at the time of study consisted of first- and second-year medical students.
Methods
Employing a mixed methods analysis of qualitative and longitudinal quantitative data, first- and second-year students at a MCASOM-AZ were invited to respond to an anonymous, online year-long survey (baseline, six months and 12 months) during the 2018–2019 academic year and participate in a structured, in-depth and in-person, peer-to-peer interview about their conceptions of wellness and the MCASOM-AZ wellness curriculum and resources. Qualitative data was coded for themes using thematic analysis strategies by independent raters.
Results
Nearly half of eligible students completed the baseline survey,1/3 completed all 3 time-points, and 1/5 participated in an in-depth interview. Participant age, gender, and year of school were representative of the larger student body. Although individual conceptions varied, Wellness was consistently highly valued. Family, Academic Performance, and Friends emerged as most important to well-being across time-points. Academic work arose as the largest barrier to wellness. Analysis of qualitative data revealed five themes. Despite individual differences in approaches to wellness, wellbeing was interrelated to the learning environment; mandatory wellness efforts that didn’t address the medical culture met with skepticism.
Conclusions
Interview responses provided understanding and context by which to interpret questionnaire responses. Academics was critical to students’ identity and wellness, while also the largest barrier. Suggested curricular improvements include restructuring academic work, seamlessly integrating wellness within coursework, and offering optional individualized approaches.
This study uses Le Monastère des Augustines Wellness Hotel to explore healing seekers' eudaimonic wellness experiences and how such experiences are conceptualized in alignment with their underlying ...transformative process in a restorative environment. Using participant observation, secondary data, and thirteen in-depth interviews with eight participants, four key elements regarding wellness hotel experience were identified: 1) the museum and its inspiring reflections; 2) the historical facilities and the power of quietness; 3) the wellness lifestyle and its lasting impacts; and 4) the religious encounters, caring staff, and feeling of being cared for. We further construct a four-stage transformative process of wellness experience: realization, involvement, transformation and appreciation.
The following text is based on the lectio praecursoria presented at the defence of the doctoral dissertation “The market perspectives of wellness tourism: A multiple case study” which was publicly ...defended on June 7, 2023, at Joensuu, University of Eastern Finland. The full version of the dissertation can be found at https://erepo.uef.fi/handle/123456789/29639.
Background: Wellness retreats are a global phenomenon Patterson & Balderas-Cejudo (2016. Identification of altered metabolomic profiles following a panchakarma-based ayurvedic intervention in healthy ...subjects: The self-directed biological transformation initiative (SBTI). Scientific Reports, 6(1), 32609.
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep32609
) and growing segment of the $563USD billion wellness tourism industry GWI (
2021
. The global wellness economy: Looking beyond COVID). Yet, despite retreats being promoted as transformational experiences to promote lifestyle change and wellbeing, only a small number of published studies have scientifically explored health outcomes. Our previously published systematic review includes 23 studies on the health impact of retreats until February 2017 Naidoo et al. (
2018
. The health impact of residential retreats: A systematic review. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 18(1), 8.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-017-2078-4
) and found no previous research has investigated the main drivers of attendance. This study aims to explore the demographics, motivations and experiences of retreat guests in different locations around the world. Methods: The global retreat study was an anonymous online survey available in nine languages (English, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, German, Russian, Hungarian, Slovak and Czech). Participants were eligible to participate if they had attended one or more residential retreats within the previous 12 months. Results: 3708 respondents started the survey, of which 71.7% (n = 2661) were eligible. Most respondents 60% (n = 1299) were female and the mean age was 58y/o (SD = 21, n = 2182). The most important factors for attendance were relaxation and holiday, to improve general health and learn coping mechanisms, and to reduce stress and improve mental health. The majority of retreat guests reported feeling better and happier after their retreat experience. A total of 41.0% had one or more medical conditions with the most common being back pain, arthritis, high blood pressure, overweight, fatigue, stress and chronic pain. Most guests reported improvement in their health after their retreat experience. Conclusions: People attend retreats to relax and regain wellbeing and retreat experiences appear to improve overall health and provide relief from chronic diseases. Further research including longitudinal and randomised controlled studies is required to determine the extent and longevity of wellbeing benefits and the populations most likely to benefit from specific programs.
Wellness tourism is a significant way to improve physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects. However, an appropriate scale for measuring the wellness tourism experience in academic research ...remains lacking. Most existing research had measured wellness tourism experience using full or part of the well-established tourism experience scales, ignoring the unique context of wellness tourism. Considering these issues, this paper first clarifies the essential connotations of the wellness tourism experience. Then, following the scale development process (literature review, content analysis, expert scoring, and two rounds of large-scale questionnaire surveys), this paper proposes the wellness tourism experience as a multidimensional construct comprising three dimensions, including “regain health,” “escape from stress” and “discover oneself.” This study provides a scientific and reliable measurement tool for further exploration of the antecedents and consequences of the wellness tourism experience.
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