Holistic Health and Wellbeing

A holistic approach to lead active and enjoyable lives

1. Introduction

We must look at our health and wellbeing in a holistic and integrated way, not focusing only on illness and disease but considering different aspects that are important to lead a meaningful, productive and satisfying life.
For example, a model of holistich health and wellbeing, as described in "Adding years to life and life to years" report, from the McKinsey Health Institute, is made of four dimensions:

• Physical Health deals with the body’s ability to function normally and how well it is operating. It is the extent to which an individual can competently perform physical tasks and activities without substantial discomfort.
• Mental health is an individual’s cognitive, behavioral, and emotional state of being. It focuses on thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Stress, anxiety, and emotions such as anger, are all encompassed under mental health
• Social health encompasses relationships with others. Whether that is family, friends or peers, and coworkers. It represents an individual’s ability to build healthy,nurturing, genuine, and supportive relationships.
• Spiritual health enables people to integrate meaning in their lives. Spiritually healthy people have a strong sense of purpose, belonging or identity.

Each health dimension can be associated with a health level.

2. Assess Your Health and Wellbeing

Assess each health dimension by answering each question with a value among Terrible, Poor, Okay, Good, and Excellent.

Physical

1. How would you rate your diet and nutrition?

   Terrible Poor Okay Good Excellent
2. How would you rate your level of physical activity?

   Terrible Poor Okay Good Excellent
3. How would you rate your amount and quality of sleep?     Terrible Poor Okay Good Excellent
4. How would you rate your ability to keep body, teeth, and hair clean daily?     Terrible Poor Okay Good Excellent
5. How would you rate your ability to avoid the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs?     Terrible Poor Okay Good Excellent
6. How would you rate your ablity to see a doctor and dentist for regular checkups?     Terrible Poor Okay Good Excellent

The phyisical health level is

The physical health status is very poor

The physical health status is poor

The physical health status is okay

The physical health status is good

The physical health status is excellent

Mental

1. How would you rate your mental health?
2. How would you rate your ability to handle stress?
3. How woud you rate your ability to express your feelings clearly and calmly, even when angry or sad?
4. How woud you rate your ability to accept constructive criticism?
5. How would you rate the awareness of your thoughts, emotions, and behavior?
6. How would you rate the willingness to learn, think about new things and develop new skills?

Social

1. How would you rate the quality of your connections to friends and family?
2. How would you rate your ability to be a good listener and to communicate clearly with others?
3. How would you rate your ability to cope with fear?
4. How would you rate your relationship with money?
5. How well does your life align with your gifts, passions, and values?
6. How well does your community support you and enable you to flourish?

Spiritual

1. How would you rate your ability to feel meaning in life?
2. How would you rate your ability to feel excited for the day in morning?
3. How would you rate your ideals that you would like to achieve?
4. How much faith do you have in your own future?
5. How well you accept life as it comes?
6. How grateful are you fo what life offers you?

For each health dimension, you get a number that represents your score, or health level, for that dimension. The health levels of the four health dimensions constitutes your overall health status.

3. Improve your health status

To keep or improve the health levels, and then the health status, we can act on some aspects that include what we put into our bodies, how we spend our time, when and how we move, what our minds and bodies are exposed to, and what we believe about the nature of reality, ourselves, and other people. The complete list of drivers can be found in "The secret to great health? Escaping the healthcare matrix report from MHI. Below you find a table with links to websites that contain advices on how to work on the various aspects.

Table 1. Holistic health aspects.

Category	Aspect	Characteristics	Websites
Physical inputs
	Diet	Food selection; portions; preparation; eating timing; macro/micro nutrients; fasting/calorie restriction; water consumption	Healthy Eating Healthy Eating Plate
	Supplementation	Frequency; extent of use; type (eg, extracts, teas, vitamins, mineral, herb, botanicals, amino acids, metabolite, probiotics, caffeine)	What are Food Supplements and Who Needs Them? Dietary supplements
	Substance use	Frequency; extent of use; type (eg, alcohol, tobacco/nicotine, vaping, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, psilocybin)	Self-help strategies for cutting down or stopping substance use Substance Use Disorder (SUD)
Movement
	Mobility	Mix of time by position; Standing, sitting, walking, posture, typing, neck position, use of fine motor skills	Back Health and Posture Good posture tips Mobility and Flexibility Exercises To Help You Move With Ease
	Exercise	Duration; frequency; type (eg, sports, endurance, high intensity, strength/resistance, stability, flexibility, coordination, individual/group)	Benefits of Physical Activity Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64
	Sleep	Quality; duration; mix by stages; regularity; consistency; alignment to circadian rhythm	Are You Getting Enough Sleep? Proven Tips to Sleep Better at Night
Daily living
	Productive activity	Work, volunteering, caregiving, hobbies, worshipping, activism, playing music, arts/crafts, travel	Productive Things You Can Do at Home Productive Hobbies To Restore Overall Employee Health And Well-being
	Social interaction	Conversations, meals, vocational interaction, friendships, physical intimacy, marriage/dating, activities; in-person or remote	How to Improve Social Skills: 23 Tips to Help How to Understand and Build Intimacy in Every Relationship
	Hygiene	Handwashing, bathing, showering, oral care, ear protection, grooming	Personal hygiene Creating a Personal Hygiene Routine: Tips and Benefits
Exposure
	Nature	Time among forests, flowers, bodies of water, wildlife/insects, mountains; day/night sky	How Does Nature Impact Our Wellbeing? Tips for time outdoors: How exposure to nature positively affects mental health
	Sensory	Screens; sun/exterior light; type/degree of interior light; noise—type, intensity, duration	Sunlight and Your Health Sound levels and their relevance
	Stress	Response to physical, emotional and/or mental challenge (pressure, trauma, excitement); acute and chronic; includes eustress	Stress Tips to Manage Stress
State of being
	Mindsets/beliefs	Attitudes/perspectives toward all aspects of life: religion/philosophy, optimism, agency, nature of people, purpose, hope	What are the Benefits of a Positive Attitude & Tips To Keep Positive Positive Mindset: 17 Ways to Develop a Happier Mind
	Body composition	Body fat by type of fat; lean muscle mass; morbid obesity	What Is Body Composition? How to Improve Body Composition With Nutrition and Exercise
Healthcare
	Detection/diagnosis	Monitoring; testing; screenings; genetic testing; diagnosis of risk factors, disease and/or conditions	Screening Tests for Common Diseases CHAPE symptom checker and medical examinations
	Clinical intervention	All forms of clinical treatment: surgeries, device implant, pharmacologic; therapy; hearing aids; other medical devices	Types of clinical interventions Pharmaceutical Therapy
	Adherence	Extent to which an individual follows a prescribed treatment plan including interventions, extent, frequency, duration, method	The importance of medical adherence 8 reasons patients don't take their medications