What Is Wellness?

Wellness is closely associated with your lifestyle and how you live it. Each person has a responsibility to fulfill every need in regards to their life. Wellness is a life-long process of meeting the needs of your physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and environmental well-being.

Here are 8 concepts to wellness.

Cultural Wellness

Cultural wellness being conscious of traditions and culture. Allowing yourself to learn, accept, and contribute to the richness and diversity of each culture. It is projecting oneself to others with sensitivity, respect, understanding and civility.

Vocational Wellness

Vocational wellness simply means being happy achieving your personal ambitions. It means allowing yourself to pursue your passion and help make the world a better place. This involves a dynamic approach of learning new skills for personal growth in order to function well.

Spiritual Wellness

Spiritual wellness is the development of a personal set of principles that gives the person a sense of existence. It inspires one to cultivate a personal faith and to trust their Higher Power in all things. It is the pursuit for value, meaning and purpose in life that leads to contentment with hope, joy, courage and gratitude.

Social Wellness

Social wellness means creating a harmonious physical environment. It involves commitment for better communication, maintaining close relationships with friends, family and the community.It promotes taking care of each other when crisis arises.

Physical Wellness

Physical wellness involves taking good care of your body. It is implementing your knowledge toward improving personal wellness and health. To achieve this, one should consider these aspects as important: nourishment, physical exercise, sleep, the use of liquor and other drugs, and the appropriate use of medical wellness care systems.

Intellectual Wellness

Having a powerful desire to learn is intellectual wellness. It is a long-term process of learning from experience, new concepts and ideas. It is conquering limitations and developing possibilities in service to others. It is the capability to practice clear thinking both creatively and analytically.

Environmental Wellness

Having the awareness of the importance of environment and its effects to our health is part of environmental wellness. It includes respect for the exquisiteness and balance of nature. This dimension involves preserving a way of life that amplifies congruence with the environment and human beings.

Emotional Wellness

It is the act to fulfill emotional needs positively. This is the ability to maintain a relationship based on mutual respect, trust and honesty. This dimension can be attain by dealing with different situations realistically, learning from it and develop a positive emotional response by perceiving challenges as opportunities.

Maintaining balance between these 8 concepts is the key to achieving an optimum level of wellness. Wellness is a dynamic process that involves enhancing every dimension in life.

What is Wellness?

• Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life.
• "...a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." - The World Health Organization.
• "a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential." - The National Wellness Institute
• Wellness is more than being free from illness, it is a dynamic process of change and growth.

City of Mesa Wellness Mission 

City of Mesa Wellness Program aims to improve the quality of life of our employees and families by building a culture of health through education, motivation and engagement of all employees and their families to participate in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. 

City of Mesa Wellness follows the Eight Dimensions of Wellness described below. 

    

1. Emotional—Coping effectively with life and creating satisfying relationships

2. Environmental—Good health by occupying pleasant, stimulating environments that support well-being

3. Financial—Satisfaction with current and future financial situations

4. Intellectual—Recognizing creative abilities and finding ways to expand knowledge and skills

5. Occupational—Personal satisfaction and enrichment from one’s work

6. Physical—Recognizing the need for physical activity, healthy foods, and sleep

7. Social—Developing a sense of connection, belonging, and a well-developed support system

8. Spiritual—Expanding a sense of purpose and meaning in life

City of Mesa

In October 2014, the City of Mesa opened the Health & Wellness Center as a place where employees and families can have the opportunity to improve their overall health and wellness.  City of Mesa employees and family members on the City of Mesa’s medical plan are able to receive care at the Health & Wellness Center for zero cost. 

At the Health & Wellness Center, our Medical Providers, Support Staff and Employee Health & Wellness Manager collaborate to provide a multitude of services to address the health needs of our community and ultimately improve the City’s well-being. 

Wellness Committee

In 2016, the City of Mesa established a 14 member Wellness Committee to play an integral role the development of a worksite wellness program.  This committee consists of individuals spanning across 12 departments, including the City Manager's office.  The developing worksite wellness program will include a variety of active, educational, and exciting initiatives addressing all dimensions of wellness.