It is Iinteresting! What is the Origins of term Wellness

By Marek Shrapnel

  Wellness is often a term quite often used these days. Where did it came from? It became widespread inside the US and than expand to the old continent where it's coupled more with pampering and sport than with medical treatments. The rising acceptance of wellness facilitates health spas to get new customers who spend there shorter time.


Where did wellness come from? This term so regularly used in connection with tourism was first used by an Us medical doctor Halbert Louis Dunn. This gentleman engaged himself with research of tendencies affecting health of local population. He found out that when the life expectation increased, Americans were more endangered by civilizational diseases than by the contagious ones. This discovery made him create the idea wellness as the opposite to the term illness. Dunn's idea of wellness incorporated not only the physical health but in addition social and spiritual wellbeing.
Wellness gained recognition in 1970s as e.g. John Travis emphasized the importance of the responsibility of a person for their very own physical condition. He designed an eight month curriculum where visitors not only improved their healthiness but in addition learned about new eating habits and educated easy methods to perform various relaxation techniques. Donald Ardell was the person who made wellness approachable to masses. He achieved that also via leaving out the non secular aspect of wellness.
Wellness then got to Europe where it is frequently linked rather with pleasure than with alternative remedies. Consequently wellness is these days related with doing physical activities or traveling to spa resorts etc.

As the time in our century seems to run faster than ever before, spas comply with this novel situation. Spa Resorts at present propose various shorter spa getaways. Whereas in twentieth century spa getaways in Spa resorts lasted six to eight weeks and were compensated by insurance providers nowadays some fifty per cent of spa visitors pay the stay themselves. Those customers help to reinforce the marketplace with spa treatments. 5 years ago there were just 10 - 20 per cent of those prepared to pay for a wellness break in a health spa resort but the present development towards shorter spa getaway assists to change the ratio.

Author is wellness & Spa resort getaway specialist with focus on Czech Spa destinations. More information & advicen about appropriate destination spa resort could be found at Spa-Resorts.cz