What is the whole person’s health?
In order to achieve a whole person’s health, one must examine the entire person, not just individual organs or body systems, and consider a variety of elements that can either promote health or disease. It entails assisting and empowering people to enhance their health in a variety of interrelated biological, behavioral, social, and environmental domains. Whole person health emphasizes restoring health, encouraging resilience, and preventing diseases across a lifespan rather than treating a particular ailment.
To improve case management and outcomes, whole-person care makes use of a diverse range of specialists, as well as next-generation data sharing among those specialists. Pilot programmes in whole-person care teach clinicians how to collaborate with social service professionals and community partners to improve public health for a variety of target populations.
The importance of whole-person health:
Health and disease are not two distinct, unrelated states, but rather two distinct paths that can lead either to health or to disease.
Chronic diseases of more than one organ system can develop along this path for a variety of reasons, including one’s biological makeup, certain unhealthy behaviors, such as poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, chronic stress, and poor sleep, as well as social aspects of life—the circumstances of one’s birth, growth, living, working, and aging. Self-care, lifestyle changes, and behavioral interventions, on the other hand, might facilitate a return to health.
Having a whole person approach means accounting for – or at least recognizing – previous experience, expectations, education, beliefs, stress, personality, support networks, social impact, and financial circumstances. All of these are inherent to the patient and are inherent to the person.
The majority of chronic diseases of today have common, modifiable risk factors, such as poor diet, inactivity, or cigarette use; as a result, treatments should take these lifestyle modifications into account, both when it comes to prevention and when it comes treatment. When attempting to achieve the long-term sustainability of health-related behavioral changes, a whole-person approach is essential.
Patients are people with habits, and habits are difficult to break. especially when the necessary changes are deeply ingrained in the lives of each individual. After living a very different lifestyle for years, it is not that simple to wake up one day and decide to start exercising, eating more fruits and vegetables, and giving up smoking.
These modifications have an impact on every part of our life, including the way we socialize and shop. If you eat every meal at home, isn’t it simpler to stick to a diet? Does this impact your social life in any way? Would you be able to decide which foods to order at a restaurant while still sticking to your diet plan? How can we assist people with their countless everyday health-related decisions? How can we help these improvements continue over time? The only solution is to consider the full individual.
Cancer is sometimes described as a “family disease,” meaning that not only does it affect the person who has been diagnosed with it but also his or her entire family. In general, chronic illnesses have an impact on the entire family. One family member may have to drop out of school to start working or stop their job to care for a relative in order to pay for another’s medical expenditures. On the other hand, patients who have family and close friends by their side are less likely to experience stress and depression as a result of their medical issues.
This is particularly important as we take a more active role in our own care and as self-management of our health becomes more and more important to deal with the rising demand for ongoing support and the rising number of people with chronic conditions. Patients rarely live in solitude; thus, a whole-patient approach should take this into consideration.
Why is whole-person care important?
Because human wellness is dependent on multidimensional, multisystemic care coordination, whole-person care is critical for improving health outcomes. People’s health is influenced by their social, emotional, economic, and environmental circumstances.
Target populations served by the safety net frequently face overlapping physical and behavioural health issues caused by psychosocial determinants of health, such as housing instability or homelessness, unemployment or underemployment, “food desert” neighbourhoods, and food insecurity, as well as substance abuse and pollution. All of these factors have a significant impact on care access and health outcomes.
Public health officials are embracing whole-person care by providing human services, housing support, and social services that promote integrative care to these high-risk populations. Data sharing with clinicians and collaborative case management are required for successful health outcomes.
Here are the 8 dimensions of wellness:
1. Emotional Wellbeing
Emotional wellness is one of the eight dimensions that contribute to overall health and wellness. Emotional wellness encompasses the knowledge and skills to identify personal feelings and the ability to handle those emotions. The National Institutes of Health describe emotional wellness as “the ability to successfully handle life’s stresses and adapt to change and difficult times” (NIH, 2018). The resources listed in this section are opportunities designed to optimize your physical wellness status, which can positively impact your overall health and wellness.
2. Physical Wellbeing
Physical wellness is one of eight dimensions that contribute to overall health and wellness. This dimension encompasses all areas of health that relate to physical aspects of the body including, nutrition, exercise, weight management, ergonomics, tobacco use, disease, disease prevention, and more. The resources listed in this section are opportunities designed to optimize your physical wellness status, which can positively impact your overall health and wellness.
3. Occupational Wellbeing
Occupational wellness is one of eight dimensions that contribute to overall health and wellness. Occupational wellness encompasses all aspects of wellbeing pertaining to personal satisfaction in your job/career. The resources listed in this section are opportunities designed to optimize your occupational wellness status, which can positively impact your overall health and wellness.
4. Social Wellbeing
Social wellness is one of eight dimensions that contribute to overall health and wellness. Social wellness encompasses all aspects of wellbeing pertaining to social connections, relationships, and personal expression. The resources listed in this section are opportunities designed to optimize your social wellness status, which can positively impact your overall health and wellness.
5. Spiritual Wellbeing
Spiritual wellness is one of eight dimensions that contribute to overall health and wellness. Spiritual wellness encompasses all aspects of wellbeing pertaining to the search for purpose and meaning in life. This may include the belief in a higher power, but spiritual wellness does not have to be aligned with religion. The resources listed in this section are opportunities designed to optimize your spiritual wellness status, which can positively impact your overall health and wellness.
6. Intellectual Wellbeing
Intellectual wellness is one of eight dimensions that contribute to overall health and wellness. Intellectual wellness encompasses all aspects of wellbeing pertaining to brain health and growth via thought-provoking mental activities. The resources listed in this section are opportunities designed to optimize your intellectual wellness status, which can positively impact your overall health and wellness.
7. Environmental Wellness
Environmental Wellness is one of eight dimensions that contribute to overall health and wellness. This dimension encompasses all areas of health that relate to the environment and in turn, how the environment can impact human health. Environmental wellness includes eco-friendly considerations, active participation in recycling and proper disposal of electronics and medicine, energy, fuel, and water conservation, and the use of sustainable products. The resources listed in this section are opportunities designed to optimize your overall health and wellness as it pertains to natural resources and environmental preservation.
8. Financial Wellbeing
Financial wellness is one of eight dimensions that contribute to overall health and wellness. Financial wellness encompasses all aspects of wellbeing pertaining to finances including knowledge and skills in financial planning and managing expenses. The resources listed in this section are opportunities designed to optimize your financial wellness status, which can positively impact your overall health and wellness.
Adopt the whole-person approach to achieve better outcomes
Promoting whole-person care and well-being necessitates patient engagement and compliance, both of which data-sharing software can enable and simplify. This cutting-edge technology has the potential to strengthen lifelong bonds between clinicians, patients, and community partners.
Whole-person care necessitates the coordination of multidimensional, multi-systemic, and collaborative care. Your patients’ social, emotional, economic, and environmental circumstances all have an impact on their healthcare and quality of life; nurture them all with whole-person care.
Manage that care effectively using the next-generation Care Management platform that best meets your patients’ and clinicians’ needs.
