Health and wellness – Conceptual grounding

Abstract

In nowadays, it is generally understood that human health lies beyond the physical body, which had been the primary focus of medicine for centuries. In 1941, Sigerist wrote, "health is not simply the absence of disease: it is something positive, a joyful attitude toward life, and a cheerful acceptance of the responsibilities that life puts upon the individual (Sigerist, 1941). This development in the understanding of health was underlined by the actual state of human health in the mid-20^th century, when the human population struggled less with communicable diseases and more with lifestyle related condition. The modern approach to health aimed to clarify the traditional understanding of it that emerged over several centuries during which people collected health-related knowledge in the form of folk medicine treatments. The aim of the theoretical study is to give a broader background and perspective on the term health, examining it through the lens of Kinanthropology, approaching it from the positive perspective of human flourishing. The main research question states: “What can one do to feel better?” and the answer could be to “Live healthier.” Wellness emerged as a new term that would broaden the focus from physical health and would integrate the body, mind and spirit of an individual within the social context in which they exist, while empowering them to take responsibility for the state of their health at any given moment.