Health vs. Wellness | What’s The Difference?

What is the difference between health and wellness??

Health and wellness are terms that are often used interchangeably, but their meanings are different.

As established by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the 1940s, health is referred to as, “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease.” According to the WHO, the primary determinants of health include the social, economic, and physical environments, and the person’s individual characteristics and behaviours. The maintenance and improvement of health, depends not only on external or environmental factors, but also on the efforts and smart lifestyle choices of the person. It depends on wellness! 

The Global Wellness Institute defines wellness as the “active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health”. Therefore, wellness is not a passive or static state, but rather an “active pursuit” that is associated with intentions, choices and actions carried out consistently, to achieve optimal health and wellbeing. 

Wellness is holistic, it’s multidimensional; it includes physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental dimensions.

Wellness is an individual pursuit, we are responsible for our own choices, behaviours and lifestyles, but it is also significantly influenced by the physical, social and cultural environments in which we live.

One way to understand wellness is to consider health as a continuum that extends from illness to a state of optimal wellbeing. At the wellness end, people focus proactively on prevention and maximizing their vitality. They adopt attitudes and lifestyles that prevent disease, improve health, and enhance their quality of life and sense of wellbeing. 

Ultimately, health is a state of being, whereas wellness is the state of living a healthy lifestyle.

Wellness lifestyle contributes to good health.