May /J une 2015

D OI: 10.427 8/aj hp.29.5.tahp

ideas for improving health outcomes

Editor’s Desk: The Wellness Movement

T he National Wellness Institute (NWI) will host its 40th

Annual Wellness Conference in June, so this issue of
The Art of Health Promotion (TAHP) offers a tribute to NWI
revival. As a statistician, Dunn undoubtedly ap-
preciated the differences between research-based
articles and the airing of opinions sans facts.
by featuring thought leaders responsible for NWI’s extraor- Nevertheless, his writings seem to emanate from
dinary success. It is fitting for the American Journal of Health someone wanting to plant his mind in between
Promotion, which hosted its 25th Annual Conference this the two and see what crops up. Maybe it’s their
year, to offer recognition to another veteran leader of the roots in the heartland of Stevens Point, Wiscon-
wellness movement. And I was pleased to learn that my em- sin, but that’s also the open harvest I’ve felt NWI
ployer, StayWell, has the greatest number of speakers and loves to cultivate.
participants of any organization having attended the NWI Halbert Dunn, MD
A fundamental difference between science
conference. We all grew up together! Siblings brimming (1896–1975), coined journals and other media relates to the role of
with affection, growing pains, latent rivalries, hard-won the term wellness. evidence as it plays steward to the advancement
wisdom, and lots of mutual respect. of knowledge. In newspapers or blogs, opinions,
Halbert Dunn, an MD and Chief of the National Office of ideology, and journalistic fact finding commingle and readers
Vital Statistics, published the book High-Level Wellness in 1961. navigate traffic accordingly. That the editor in chief of this Jour-
Soon after, writers and speakers like Bill Hettler, NWI’s cofound- nal, Dr. Michael O’Donnell, named his conference The Art and
er; Jack Travis; and Don Ardell popularized Dunn’s concepts. Science of Health Promotion reflects a discerning belief that a
I will be profiling Dr. Ardell and this era in a future issue of fidelity to science can coexist in a pitch of ideas that also arise
TAHP. For an in-depth chronology of who influenced whom from social, spiritual, and philosophical underpinnings.
in wellness, read “Wellness: The History and Development In this issue of TAHP, conversations between eight of NWI’s
of a Concept” by James Miller. Miller’s article is available as a VIPs show how a multidimensional approach to wellness has
PDF at http://www.fh-joanneum.at/global/show_document. long been a tenet. NWI conference participants pace headlong
asp?id=aaaaaaaaaabdjus&. through inspiring speeches, community volunteerism, research
Building on this rich convergence of intellectuals and ideo- reviews, sunrise hatha yoga, and expert panels. Like conference
logues, NWI has achieved a unique blend of art and science, attendees, the leaders interviewed in this issue of TAHP traverse
and attendees return often for personal renewal, professional heartily between art and science, and no one is directing traffic
skill building, and the chance to bask in an unbound wellness because no one seems lost.
The NWI conference evokes the excitement of discovery, hu-
mility from things we can’t explain, and the expansiveness that
In This Issue comes from asking ethereal questions. A benefit of longevity is
witnessing things come back around. In my closing commen-
Editor’s Desk: The Wellness Movement
tary, I describe the growing semantics in our field about mov-
by Paul E. Terry, PhD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
ing from wellness to “well-being.” I interview wellness leaders
The Past, Present, and Future of the Wellness and ask whether we are going “back to the future.” At NWI, 40
Movement: An Interview with Dr. Bill Hettler years of hosting a discussion about holistic health has edified
by Brandan Hardie, MBA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 thousands and left us in wonder that there is so much more to
Interconnectedness, Quantum Physics, and Awe learn. And sometimes when history repeats itself, it is for good
by Meg Jordan, PhD and Elaine Sullivan, MEd. . . . . . . 4 reason.
How Culture Interacts with the Concept of Wellness:
The Role Wellness Plays in a Global Environment
by Deborah A. Wilcox, PhD and John W. Travis, MD, MPH. . . . 6
The Multi-Dimensions of Wellness: The Vital Role
of Terms and Meanings
by R. Anne Abbott, PhD and William B. Baun, EPD,
FAWHP, CWP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Is Wellness Going Back to the Future? Paul E. Terry, PhD
by Paul E. Terry, PhD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Editor, The Art of Health Promotion
Making Something Great! The 25th Annual Art Senior VP and Chief Science Officer, StayWell
and Science of Health Promotion Conference Blog your ideas and reactions at:
by Paul E. Terry, PhD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 http://www.healthpromotionjournal.com/blog/
Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/pauleterry

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The Past, Present, and Future of the Wellness Movement:
An Interview with Dr. Bill Hettler
Brandan Hardie, MBA

I t is early morning, September 13, 1964, and a nervous, excited,

and hopeful freshman class at the University of Wisconsin–Ste-
vens Point (UWSP) shuffles in to hear Dr. James Albertson, the Bill Hettler, MD
Bill Hettler is a cofounder of the National Wellness
university’s then chancellor, deliver a convocation to welcome Institute and served as staff physician and the direc-
them, inspire them, and begin their 4-year journey of learning and tor of the health service and lifestyle improvement
discovery. The purpose of the “coming together” and the univer- program at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens
Point. Bill is one of the creators of the National Well-
sity education overall, he tells the students, is to “help you progress
ness Conference. See: http://www.hettler.com/
from where you are and have been to where you might go.”
Dr. Hettler fondly recounted this early and unsung leader of
the wellness movement as we spoke one recent January after-
noon. He reflected on a chancellor who not only cared about
the education of students, but was also intimately concerned Finally, I have always been heavily involved in the YMCA.
with the students’ personal growth and wellness. His convoca- In the 1890s Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick introduced the Spirit-
tion spent as much time reflecting on academic goals as it did Mind-Body triangle at Springfield College, the YMCA Training
on personal, spiritual, athletic, social, and intellectual goals. It School. The idea of whole-person wellness had thus always been
was this environment that Dr. Hettler was drawn to as he looked in the back of my mind from an early age.
nationwide for a place to practice medicine…a place he could
make a difference. UWSP is often thought of as the birthplace of the wellness
movement. It had the first student wellness program, the first
Brandan Hardie: How did you learn about wellness? Tell me degree program, and helped to launch the NWI. Could the
about the inspiration and drivers that led to the creation of the movement have started someplace else?
National Wellness Institute (NWI), the first organization with
wellness as its central mission? I chose UWSP after the air force because of the community
of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and the chance to interact with
Bill Hettler: The idea of doing something positive started long people early in their lives. Chancellor Albertson had already laid
before I got to Stevens Point. I was in medical school from 1965 the groundwork for this concept. I walked into the university,
to 1969. As I was studying I began to realize that much of what and they didn’t call it wellness, but the philosophy was already
we were doing as doctors was learning what was wrong with there. It was a fertile environment. Although Albertson was
people and then writing some sort of prescription to try to solve already gone when I arrived, he had hired a whole bunch of
that problem. As I learned more about medicine, I learned that people that had that same philosophy…teaching people how to
a lot of what was causing the illnesses was behaviors that had no live well.
chance of being solved by writing a prescription 40 years too This environment allowed me to create the Lifestyle Assess-
late—prescriptions that we knew were often thrown away before ment Questionnaire (LAQ) to measure student wellness as part
the patients even left the hospital grounds. of the university’s mission. Not only did this tool measure health
We never had anything in medical school about “health.” In and lifestyle choices, but it also gave students resources to
many ways, I learned about wellness by accident. For instance, I improve their wellness. Again, the ideas of wellness were already
had a classmate who studied transcendental meditation in India there. From Gulick at the YMCA in the 1890s, Halbert Dunn’s
one summer. He introduced the methods of meditation to me speeches on wellness in Unitarian churches in the ’50s and
and our medical classmates when he returned. In our physiolo- ’60s, and Dr. Albertson at UWSP in the 1960s, I was just able to
gy labs we were able to test the impact of this deep mindfulness, help to make those ideas operational. In 1976 we programmed
and it was mind-blowing for me. I knew the medicines and what the LAQ using a mainframe computer. The current chancellor,
they would do, and all of the side effects…But here was some- Lee S. Dreyfus, supported what we were doing and saw it as a
thing free, you could do it anywhere, without any expense, and recruiting tool. He supported me being on the road as much as
it had no negative side effects, and it worked on a physiological possible to talk about health issues and how UWSP would not
level. It was like, “What else don’t I know?” only educate students, but also teach them how to live well.
The final week we were in medical school, our class was ad-
dressed by a professor of public health, Dr. John Phair. Most How did the National Wellness Conference start?
of the class stopped listening to him right away because he
addressed us as “boys” and we were “men.” There were only The conference came first and was called the Wellness Promo-
two women in our class of 98 students, and it is fortunate that tion Strategies Conference back then. The LAQ had helped
things have changed dramatically in that respect. I only listened to get our name out, and the work we were doing to promote
because I was in the front row and in his direct line of sight. He student health and wellness was well known through my travels.
said, “You boys will save more lives and alleviate more suffering The conference was not only a good place for those interested
if you never practice medicine.” He went on to describe that in wellness to come together, it was also one central time parties
if you teach people how to live in the first place, a lot of these interested in student wellness could come to campus to learn
diseases we were being taught to treat would never happen. our methods, as opposed to the many individual visits we had
Although he didn’t have a way to do that yet, I thought, “There been getting. In 1978, with the help of a university colleague
is something right about this.” named Bob Bowen who was looking for summer work, we held

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the Third Annual Wellness Promotion Strategies conference. people come together.” If you target people where they already
We called a bunch of people we had never met, but had read come together and then try to infiltrate those groups with some
about, and asked them to come. We called it the “Third Annual” programming ideas, you might have some success every once in
because we didn’t think anyone would want to come to the a while.
“First Annual” conference. That year, 250 attended from all over
the country. What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong or what do
we need to do more of?
How did the NWI start?
The Affordable Care Act, I am thrilled that we finally got some-
The Institute was inspired by Fred Leafgren, the UWSP Direc- thing passed that helps the poorest in our country.
tor of Residential Life; Dennis Elsenrath, the Director of the I don’t think we are missing anything. At times I think we are
UWSP Counseling Center; and me, Director of the University doing too much. We need to bring it back down to connecting
Medical Center. We began as a group of educators trying to help people with people. We need to bring it back down to cultural
students through wellness assessments and resources. We were a support. People come back for the connectedness. But overall, I
great team that believed in the university’s mission of teaching am thrilled with the success I see.
students how to live well. The institute (primarily a conference
and LAQ) was part of the university’s foundation in the early What does it mean for wellness that so many of the efforts and
years until it grew too large and was considered “unrelated busi- energy are concentrated around the worksite?
ness income.” So in 1989 we formed the separate nonprofit. We
struggled in some of those early years, but it got better and grew In terms of wellness and worksites, if you go back to my origi-
because of the people who were willing to help make it happen. nal idea: is there any place where people come together for
more hours a week than the worksite? No. Places of worship are
Did you ever expect that the wellness movement would grow to another place where people come together. I believe in social
what it is today? What contributed to the growth? connectedness and wherever that happens, it is a good thing.
I’m disappointed that university wellness programs, another key
I have been enjoying the ride. I have always been a big thinker. I place where people come together, are being cut as administra-
really never thought it would stop because it was the right thing tions try to rein in budgets.
to be doing. It makes sense. We were and are successful because What is most important in terms of return on investment
we allowed ourselves the chance to deliver programs to people (ROI) is that the true ROI, the true cost of operations, and the
to help them learn to live in a different way. We put a lot of en- most important assets, are the people.
ergy into bringing in functionality that made these ideas work.
Also, I was always thinking, “If we are going to make a differ- Brandan Hardie, MBA, is Executive Director of the National Wellness
ence in a community, we need to first of all figure out where Institute.

TAHP-3
Interconnectedness, Quantum Physics, and Awe
Meg Jordan, PhD and Elaine Sullivan, MEd

M eg Jordan: Elaine, you have been considered a major leader

in the wellness movement for more than 30 years, especial-
ly when it comes to advocating for the inclusion of the feminine,
Meg Jordan, PhD, RN, CWP
Meg Jordan is Copresident (2014–2016) of the Na-
tional Wellness Institute and is Chair and Professor of
the immaterial, the emotional, and the spiritual dimensions. Why Integrative Health Studies and Somatic Psychology
is that important? at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San
Francisco. She is editor and founder of American
Fitness magazine and author of several books, in-
Elaine Sullivan: We have lived nearly 400 years under the 17th- cluding The Fitness Instinct and How to Be a Health
century worldview developed largely from the reality put forth Coach. See: http://www.megjordan.com/megjordan.
com/Home.html
by great thinkers such as Descartes, Newton, Bacon, and others.
These great thinkers spawned the Scientific Revolution and the
description of reality we know as the Cartesian/Newtonian para-
digm. The universe was to them a great machine. In this mecha- Elaine Sullivan, MEd, LPC, LMFT
nistic/reductionistic approach the universe was divided into two Elaine Sullivan is a nationally recognized advocate
of holistic wellness. The National Wellness Institute
parts: material (objective, quantitative, and measurable) and im- recognized her lifetime contributions in the field of
material (thoughts, emotions, human consciousness, which were health and wellness by honoring her as the recipient
seen as subjective and consequently not worth study or attention). of the Halbert L. Dunn Award in 2010. See:
http://www.sullivancounselingandconsulting.com/
Mastery over the natural world, as we experience it today, followed. elainesullivan.html
Belief in the natural superiority of men and masculine values
over women and feminine values was scientifically reinforced
and sanctioned by this patriarchal worldview. Those of us who
have lived through the women’s movement and the struggle ner space within each one of us, the place of our story. I believe
to have our voices heard and our values affirmed know the wellness that is sustained moves from the inside out and outside
“power-over” of that worldview. What we knew in our hearts and in. What is taken in from my environment affects the life within;
bodies—our subjective knowing—was totally dismissed. Wisdom, what rests in my own inner landscape, in my unconscious, is
intuition, emotion, spirit—what Dr. Rachel Remen calls the always affecting the way I live—my deeply held beliefs, attitudes,
softer things—were ignored and discounted. What you could emotions, and behaviors. I believe I nurture and grow to know
not measure did not exist. the depth of my inner life through silence, quiet, relationships,
communing with nature, images, poetry, story, listening, meta-
Meg: I’ve heard you speak so much in your presentations at phor, reading, meditation, a sense of awe and wonder. When
NWI [the National Wellness Institute] about “both/and”—about I nurture that inner space I return to my true self. I take full
the way we need to embrace paradox and make room for the responsibility for who I am and the choices I make. I become
middle ground or even uncertainty for true well-being, and to vitally alive and bring this aliveness to all my relationships.
avoid the traps of fundamentalist thinking. Tell us more about
that, and what’s vital for wellness practitioners to know. Meg: Who has been an inspiration to you?

Elaine: In the worldview being shaped by quantum physics, a Elaine: Roger Walsh, currently professor of psychiatry, philoso-
new reality for our culture is emerging where what seemed to be phy, and anthropology, at the University of California–Irvine.
opposites are actually deeply connected: body/mind, masculine/ Walsh wrote:
feminine, objective/subjective, thinking/feeling, rationality/
intuition, internal/external, shadow/light, head/heart. Niels From early adolescence, science was my god, and the only
Bohr, the Nobel Prize–winning physicist, stated, “The opposite question was “What kind of scientist am I going to be?” I went
of a true statement is a false statement, but the opposite of a pro- to medical school in Australia and then came to Stanford
found truth can be another profound truth.” The world is found University. Promptly I found myself in a completely different
not by splitting the world into either/or, but by embracing it as world. People were talking about accessing the unconscious,
both/and—by understanding paradox. Bohr also affirmed that getting in touch with emotions, and so forth. It was just nuts
if we want to know what is essential, we must stop thinking the to me. Yet I began to appreciate that some of these people
world into pieces and start thinking it together again. seemed to have a sensitivity and wisdom that I was missing.
I believe the relatively new science of quantum physics chal- Perhaps the most crucial change was that I became aware of
lenges us to see the complexity of wellness. It is not solely linear my internal subjective experiences. Eventually this unveiled
left-brain oriented; it is a system of interrelationships. I believe the inner world of emotions, images, intuition, and thoughts
the essence of wellness begins deep within the human heart— that I have been oblivious to. I had been absolutely out of
that place where intellect, emotion, will, and spirit reside. I contact with myself. I felt that I had spent my entire life living
believe the essence of spirituality is relationship: relationship to on just the top six inches of a wave on top of an ocean that I
myself, to others, to the earth, and to a higher power (knowing hadn’t known existed. It blew me away that there was an inner
each person has to define the way this is expressed) and an on- universe as vast and mysterious as the outer universe and that
going search for meaning and purpose. I believe in the vast in- I could have spent my entire life unaware of it.

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Another inspiration is Rachel Remen, MD, who wrote, “The more than 6 hours a day with screens endanger their capacity to
need to recover awe and mystery in our medicine may simply point recognize emotions on human faces. Wellness professionals need
to a culture-wide need to recover awe and mystery in our lives. We to lead the charge on every dimension of wellness.
may all need to know a little less and wonder a little more.”
Elaine: You’ve been called a cultural trend spotter by USA Today
Meg: So, you’ve covered a lot of philosophical food for thought for your writings and provocative presentations. What other
here. In a word, what is wellness to you? trends do you see today for wellness professionals?

Elaine: Interconnection. In the past years, I believe we at Meg: As a medical anthropologist, I examine the cultural trends
NWI have worked to develop a holistic model of wellness that that underpin society. Right now I see four big ideas.
embraces the integration of mind, body, and spirit. I believe
we have begun to integrate into the wellness field the tenets 1. Health and wellness coaching will become a recognized pro-
of the new worldview that demonstrates interconnection—the fession with a national certification and greater acceptance
relationships, the complexity of any given experience. I believe by the public, medical providers, and insurance companies.
emotional, spiritual, and social wellness—though not always Coaching for lifestyle improvement is a vital part of halting
measurable—are critical in the developing field of wellness. the growth of chronic disease. It’s the supportive alliance
that helps people finally change what they haven’t been
Elaine: Meg, if you remember, I’m the one who pushed for you able to on their own. Watch for emerging standards and a
to be on the NWI board. And now, you’re the first woman leader national certification examination from the National Con-
as copresident in the organization’s 40-year history. Where is sortium for Credentialing Health and Wellness Coaches and
your focus for the organization? supportive workshops from NWI.

Meg: That’s right, Elaine. I always have you to thank for my 2. Wellness professionals will continue to migrate findings
involvement with this great organization, and it’s been exciting from the Era of the Brain and neuroscience to assist in the
to help NWI expand in its commitment of professional develop- arduous task of adopting healthful habits. This includes
ment and personal enrichment for wellness professionals. We some cutting-edge work on rewiring neural connections for
also have a female executive director, Brandan Hardie, who has healthful new habits, as well as unwiring negative emotion-
helped us leap into the 21st century, a staff of six women and ally laden memories that sabotage good intentions. Expect
finally one man. This makeup reflects our current membership, more tips from researchers who are unlocking the emotion-
the vast majority of whom are women. But even our male lead- al brain and providing a much-needed bootstrap for shifts in
ers, my copreasident John Munson and past president Bill Baun, mindset and behavioral change.
have all recognized that the wellness profession is run primarily
by hardworking women throughout the nation, although they 3. We will deepen our connection to the natural world. From
don’t always have the top positions. Now, all this is in contrast to recognizing the gut microbiome to the need for kids to play
the dominant narrative about the birth of NWI—that a few fellas in the dirt in order to have a healthy immune system to the
got together for a first wellness conference, but actually called importance of Wi-Fi–free vacations, the link between per-
it the third. Hence, we’re having a grand 40th celebration this sonal and planetary health will grow undeniable, hopefully
summer at the annual conference in Minneapolis (June 12–15). for all. Adopting a sport like triathlons or sailing (my per-
But I think the idea of wellness was part of a massive cultural sonal favorite) can reinforce this natural-world connection.
zeitgeist in the 1970s fueled by troubling insights that our
lifestyles were killing us. That wake-up call resounded in the 4. We will look at resolving a serious risk to health that is seldom
hospital corridors where I worked as a cardiac RN, rehabilitat- discussed—loneliness and the lack of social belonging. I can’t
ing heart disease patients. We looked at debilitating workplace emphasize enough how this is an evolutionary imperative. From
stress, the lies of Big Tobacco, not to mention Big Food, and the dawn of Homo sapiens more than 200,000 years ago, we lived
how the built environment seemed to engineer physical move- in groups of no less than 9 to 12, where our neuroendocrine
ment out of everyday life. The jogging craze hit. Everybody systems evolved in lockstep with social cooperation in small
aerobicized. We thought the world would catch on and wellness groups. I believe we’ll see how well-connected, interdependent,
would no longer be a scoffed-at word. small groups still serve our possibilities for human flourishing.

Elaine: So, mission accomplished? Elaine: What needs to change, if anything, for wellness profes-
sionals?
Meg: Far from it, I’m sorry to say. While “wellness” is no longer
an unusual word, it has come to include everything from vitamin Meg: My university (California Institute of Integral Studies) is a
supplements to dog spas. As far as personal responsibility to adopt block from Twitter headquarters, the epicenter of Silicon Valley in
a wellness lifestyle, we need to drive the message home amidst new San Francisco, with thousands of overly wired, fried 20- to 30-year-
challenges. Here we are—40 years later, and we’re faced with the olds. They don’t need to be more engaged, they need less engage-
fact that the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] ment with work, and more sleep, play, and mindful relaxation. But
has declared “sitting disease” to be a risk factor that may outweigh when a “Culture of Engagement” expert worked with one compa-
several others. In fact, if you sit for 11 hours a day or more, you are ny, the company honestly didn’t make the connection to personal
40% more likely to die from any cause. That’s mind-blowing. But health—just organizational productivity. I think we’re headed for
we never could have predicted the extent to which the digital revo- a cortisol-whiplashed workforce in tech, an American-bred version
lution and our addiction to screens would have altered the course of karosi, the Japanese word for death by overwork. Wellness profes-
of human health. We’re now tracking research that kids who have sionals have their work cut out for them, once again.

TAHP-5
How Culture Interacts with the Concept of Wellness:
The Role Wellness Plays in a Global Environment
Deborah A. Wilcox, PhD and John W. Travis, MD, MPH

D eborah Wilcox: How has the wellness movement changed or

stayed the same?
Deborah A. Wilcox, PhD
Deborah Wilcox is the founder/CEO of CONFLU-
ENCY Consultants and Associates and serves on the
Jack Travis: It has been a stillbirth. My inspiration came from board of the National Wellness Institute. She is the
recipient of the 2014 Multicultural Award of Distinc-
Halbert Dunn’s High-Level Wellness (1961), which I found in
tion from the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association,
1971 on the clearance table at Johns Hopkins Medical Book which recognizes her outstanding contribution to
Store when I was in my residency in preventive medicine. It has the field of psychiatric rehabilitation. See: https://
a far greater scope of wellness than anything I’ve seen today. www.saybrook.edu/academic-affairs/facultyprofiles/
deborah_wilcox
We attempted to follow his vision in the ’70s with my cen-
ter, but it wasn’t financially viable in that era. At least Dunn’s
concept caught on, largely thanks to Don Ardell, who wrote
High-Level Wellness: An Alternative to Doctors, Drugs, and Disease John W. Travis, MD, MPH
(1976), and our (Don’s and my) appearance with Dan Rather Jack Travis was with the U.S. Public Health Service’s
Division of Health Services Research. He opened the
on 60 Minutes in 1979. At one point in the ’80s, there were thou- Wellness Resource Center in 1975 and is the creator
sands of hospital wellness centers, but most of them discovered, of the Wellness Inventory and the founder and
as I did, that you can’t make enough money on the services of a codirector of Wellness Associates, a consulting and
publishing group. See: http://www.wellpeople.com/
wellness center to stay open without subsidies.
John_Travis.aspx
Also the medical profession’s co-opting the term wellness
dumbed down wellness so badly that only the physical dimen-
sion of Dunn’s four—physical, mental, emotional, and spiri-
tual—survived. Nowadays, the best programs seem to only cover address all four of those areas, then it is only a partial approach
nutrition, fitness, and stress reduction. to wellness. His formal definition was, “An integrated method of
functioning that is oriented towards maximizing the potential of
Deborah Wilcox: I came into the wellness movement quite which the individual is capable within the environment in which
differently, first on a personal level by growing up playing lots he is functioning.”1 I think that pretty much covers it—pretty
of sports, teaching swimming, and lifeguarding in my forma- generic, but I don’t see many modern definitions that broad.
tive years through college. Like many baby boomers, I grew up
being active and sitting down with my parents at dinnertime for Deborah: Hearing Dunn’s definition around “integrating func-
nutritious meals, doing homework, attending church, and being tioning” reminds me of an article by Young and Ensign2 (1999)
involved in community groups. I had a well-rounded experience that discusses the concept of flourishing as an optimal state of
growing up, and those were the days that I didn’t know anything mental health recovery for those persons who have psychiatric
about the wellness wheel (LOL). disabilities. The integration of the whole person allows the
I entered the wellness movement in 2006 in a more formal role, person to flourish as opposed to just healing from one illness.
as a member of an applied research team to promote evidence- The integration permits a person to define optimal health and
based and clinical best practices that address the wellness, recovery, wellness for themselves.
and holistic health care needs of persons who suffered with severe
and persistent mental illness and substance abuse challenges. How do you see culture interacting with wellness?

Where do you think the wellness movement is going? Deborah: We are in the fourth and fifth forces of the evolution
of health care nationally and internationally. Allied health pro-
Jack: I think it is going all over the place because the definitions of fessions in both behavioral and physical health have adopted
wellness are so varied. I teach an online course, Wellness Assess- cultural competency standards of best practices and care. The
ment and Health Analysis, at the Royal Melbourne Institute of professions have put forth cultural competency as the founda-
Technology (Australia), and one of the biggest struggles is finding tion for ethical practice, indicating all practitioners should get
a definition of wellness that everyone agrees on—there isn’t one. in touch with themselves as cultural beings so they are able to
We required six different definitions in the Wellness Workbook, understand how to work with other people within their cultural
which are rather wordy, but we think they cover it pretty well. contexts. Practitioners have to learn everyone is shaped by their
I am optimistic now that at least wellness is getting a lot of air- cultural socialization, which determines their view of the world,
time, and, as a result, I hope some people will start to recognize values, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and
what Dunn’s original broad and holistic approach was. That was language, and takes into consideration all human differences
60 years ago and we still haven’t come close to it! that have to be honored and respected. The fifth-force move-
ment in the allied professions is the current social justice move-
On Halbert Dunn’s definition of wellness. ment that calls for providing equitable good treatment and
good care for all people, and that we have to close the health
Jack: Dunn’s definition included the four dimensions of mental, and wellness gap in this country. This is the time for empower-
emotional, physical, and spiritual. If a wellness program doesn’t ment, voice, and choice for everyone in both the administer-

TAHP-6
John Travis Developed a Continuum Contrasting the Treatment and Wellness Paradigms

ing and the receiving of health and wellness services in our tural competency initiative. During the upcoming 2015 National
country. Conference there will be an inaugural Multicultural Compe-
tency Academy that will offer a social justice perspective on
Jack: The problem with the word culture, like wellness, is that wellness and health care service delivery and will offer tools and
it has so many definitions. From your use of “multicultural,” it strategies aligned with culturally competent best practices for
refers to specific subsets of the populations, whether based on the conference attendees, membership, and related constituen-
race or sexual orientation. I think of culture in the larger con- cies. This academy will provide participants with a safe space for
text of the overlying rules of patriarchy—the dominant culture active engagement in deliberative conversations and dialogues
that has been on this planet for about 5,000 to 7000 years. It addressing issues related to effective interventions addressing
requires that we look up to authority and expect to be told what health equity and health inequalities, grassroots mobilization
to do and basically, we have to fit in or we are labeled misfits. and advocacy, multicultural competency in organizational de-
That horrible term well-adjusted reveals this invisible force—well- velopment, assessment and corporate wellness, and community
adjusted to what? policing and wellness. Overall, the academy’s goal is to support
My mentor, Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of The Magical inclusiveness and foster the building of healthy and civil com-
Child, has a wonderful talk on culture, and basically he says, munities.
culture is the enemy of our freedom and the idea of trying to
improve culture, reform culture, is part of the built-in catch-22. What does NWI mean to you and how does it play a role in the
Freedom and culture as we know it are antithetical. His work is wellness movement?
classic and profoundly questions the current thinking on child-
birth practices, parenting, and educating our children. Now Jack: For me, it has been the sponsoring of conferences that
his daring ideas about how Western society is damaging our have generated many lasting friendships and connected me with
children, and how we can better nurture them and ourselves, likeminded colleagues for nearly 40 years. It continues to raise
ring truer than ever. the awareness of wellness for thousands of people and provide
a forum for discussion and evolution of the field. I hope it will
What do we, as wellness practitioners and as a National Wellness embrace Halbert Dunn’s contributions. I hope it will make his
Institute (NWI), still need to work on? work more visible.

Jack: First I want to mention that NWI has an international fol- Deborah: For me, my first exposure to the NWI was fairly re-
lowing and I snag a little on “national” in the title. cent. In 2012 a colleague and I submitted a proposal to present
Having lived in Australia for 15 years, I’m aware of the a workshop on the applied community-based research we were
America-centric thinking that most Americans are clueless involved with in the state of Ohio that focused on the wellness
about. There’s huge world out there, and some of it is more and holistic health care needs of adults and their families affect-
progressive than the United States, especially in sick care and ed by serious emotional disturbances and mental illness. How-
infant mortality. ever, more importantly, this was my first NWI conference and
Mostly, I think we constantly need to work on ourselves, I remember to this day how I was treated upon arrival by the
instead of being preachers. We need to walk our talk, and I’ve conference staff. They were enthusiastic and genuinely warm
long believed that we teach what we need to learn. Also that and engaging, and included me and other new conference
we are what we hate or love. The people we tend to idealize or attendees in a lot of fun community building and fun activities
despise are both projections of our own shadow. on the first day that we arrived on campus at the University of
I believe that is the most powerful and important work of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.
wellness, which is rarely addressed, is to recognize our own In 2014, I along with other board members who serve on
shadow projections and challenge ourselves to constantly stretch the Multicultural Competency Committee (MCC), developed
our boundaries in safe environments with likeminded people. a report comprised of recommendations to the NWI board
titled Enhancing Cultural Competency and Promoting Diversity in
On the NWI Comprehensive Multicultural Competency Initiative the Practice and Education of Wellness. The submitters of this re-
port collectively believe that there is an opportunity and a re-
Deborah: The NWI Board has unanimously approved moving sponsibility of the NWI to advance cultural competency of its
forward with the implementation of a comprehensive multicul- members and promote programming and practices designed

TAHP-7
to address the needs of a multicultural population, member- References
ship, and related constituencies. One of the stated missions 1. Dunn H. High Level Wellness. Arlington, Va: R. W. Beatty Co; 1961.
of the MCC is to support the NWI in the achievement of its 2. Young SL, Ensing DS. Exploring recovery from the perspective of
mission and foster inclusiveness to advance multicultural people with psychiatric disabilities. Psych Rehab J. 1999;22:219–231.
competency within comprehensive wellness best practices
and service delivery. This cultural competency enterprise will Editor’s note: See this Journal’s blog page to learn more from
be one of the major initiatives that will support the NWI’s Deborah Wilcox about a Coordinating Center of Excellence to
adherence to its stated mission and contribute a great deal to assist with wellness and recovery services in community mental
the continued growth of the organization and to the wellness health and from John Travis on the Alliance for Transforming
movement. the Lives of Children.

The Multi-Dimensions of Wellness:

The Vital Role of Terms and Meanings
A Conversation Between R. Anne Abbott, PhD and William B. Baun, EPD, FAWHP, CWP

B ill Baun: What does wellness mean to you and how do you see
it playing out in your work?
R. Anne Abbott, PhD, FAACVPR, CWWPH
Anne Abbott is a Professor Emeritus in Health Promo-
tion and Wellness at the University of Wisconsin–
Stevens Point. She was the recipient of a National
Anne Abbott: People still have many different interpretations Wellness Institute (NWI) Leadership Award in 2009,
of the term wellness. Wellness is a transformative process that and currently serves on the NWI Board of Directors
reflects our choices through life challenges. We are always in and the Board of Experts for publication of The
Exercise Standards and Malpractice Reporter. See:
motion, transforming energy, constantly changing as we try http://www.uwsp.edu/HPHD/Pages/facultyStaff/
to stay in a balanced state of homeostasis. Wellness requires aAbbott_bib.aspx
experiential learning, which is more than “earning” or “knowl-
edge.” One must experience the change, i.e., live through the
challenge, vs. just understand theoretically. It is action in our
behaviors that allows our heads, hearts, and hands to align with William B. Baun, EPD, FAWHP, CWP
Bill Baun is the Wellness Officer at The University
our human value. of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston,
Wellness or well-being is multidimensional. Wellness requires Texas. In addition, Bill is the Past President of the
a disciplined practice to become holistic through moving to- National Wellness Institute (NWI) Board of Directors
and in 2014 he was the recipient of NWI’s Lifetime
ward balance in all dimensions of wellness.
Achievement Award. See: https://www.linkedin.com/
pub/william-baun-epd-cwp-fawhp/4/631/b85
Bill Baun: Anne, I hear you, but in my world we have stopped
using the term balance and now talk about effectiveness. Feeling I
have to reach a state of balance can be very stressful, but work-
ing to be effective at the different dimensions of my life can be ing effective wellness programs, including the Affordable Care
challenging and uplifting. Act.
From a National Wellness Institute (NWI) standpoint, the
challenges around worksite wellness center on the practitioner. Bill: Anne, you are so right. Our stakeholders have a hard time
NWI has always been about the practitioner. As an industry understanding us and thus believing in us because we have not
and as an organization, we must strive to keep the practitioner done a good job of standardizing our core terms. Return on
updated. Once practitioners enter the field, they are often bom- investment (ROI), value of investment, and cost-effectiveness
barded with the day-to-day, and they lose the connection to the are also some good examples.
literature and best practices. If we as an organization are able
to provide a learning community that keeps these practitioners Are wellness ideas able to integrate with health promotion and
engaged and updated, then we are doing our job and fulfilling benefits programs?
our mission. We need to remind them of their skills and to use
them, beyond just the doing of the job. Anne: Wellness is about being well and has evolved into
programming that creates personal well-being and a work
Do we need a common language in worksite wellness? culture that supports the health and well-being of individu-
als. Unfortunately, the health promotion and benefits form of
Anne: We must have a common language. Terminology has wellness delivery systems splits efforts into bottom-line analysis,
been and remains one of the biggest problems in the implemen- marketing, competition, capitalism, and behavioral econom-
tation of wellness and health promotion programs. We need to ics. This environment, along with political ideology, has not
have a clear understanding of what wellness and well-being are helped us to be more collaborative with the other professional
vs. health education, disease management, safety and risk man- disciplines.
agement, public health, population health, and health promo- Academic training programs have not helped to clear the
tion. We need clear definitions to be operational in implement- confusion in terminology. In early ’80s health promotion in cor-

TAHP-8
“ The multidimensional model of wellness: spiritual, physical, emotional,
occupational, intellectual, social, and environmental.
”
porate America actually moved away from the term wellness and Anne: The early days of NWI conferences brought early leaders
the scientific community moved away from the term holistic. from many disciplines together from around the United States
Thankfully, the mid-’80s also brought about the University of and the world and led to discussions that developed broader
Wisconsin–Stevens Point’s (UWSP’s) health and wellness degree wellness concepts with practical applications.
program that moved away from the focus on physical well-being Through NWI’s convergence of many areas of wellness, from
to a multidimensional model of wellness (spiritual, physical, humanistic to clinical practices, holistic wellness was debated.
emotional, occupational, intellectual, social, and environmen- Research concepts eventually emerged, and collaborative teach-
tal). I, with Drs. John Munson and Jane Jones, created this first ing/facilitation skills were developed and instituted. These
health and wellness degree program (1986–89) around this events eventually defined the functional aspects of becoming
multidimensional model. The idea was to address the complex- well and the multidimensional aspects of wellness programs. By
ity of the whole person. The program has served as the model 1993, consumers caught on and demanded change in the medi-
for numerous other programs across the United States and cal system.
abroad. Currently, NWI also follows this model, working collab-
oratively across wellness and corporate disciplines to cross-train Bill: Anne, I love to hear the history. My first start in worksite
wellness, multidisciplined professionals. wellness was at Tenneco where we had a multifaceted team
(occupational health, wellness, employee assistance program,
Bill: We are learning how to be better collaborators. Collabo- and safety) all working and reporting together. When I came to
ration in the industry will require all of our leaders working NWI there were few worksites represented, but it was an open
together over time to create consistency of our wellness voice. culture that accepted individuals for who they were and what
Wellness professionals bring years of experience of not just they brought to the group. I kept coming back not only because
worksite management, but knowledge in all of the wellness of my worksite friends at NWI, but because of the community
dimensions and human values. This is a strength and what NWI that cared about wellness and me. I think NWI will always be the
brings to the table, but it requires collaboration to bring these melting pot moving forward where people with different health
elements together for sustainable culture change. and wellness backgrounds can share ideas.

What are the strengths of the multidimensional model in a work- How did NWI help to bring the concept of wellness into the
site environment? mainstream?

Anne: On the academic side, we found the seven-dimensional Anne: Having been developed through the UWSP Student Life
wellness model allowed us fewer constraints on designing a com- Program and the YMCA camp influence, NWI became the “fun
petency-based curriculum for entry-level professionals to meet and feel-good group.” As a young American College of Sports
varied employers’ needs. The design also created a promotional Medicine clinical exercise physiologist, I was skeptical. How-
and communication base that served as the foundation for the ever, when I realized from my early days in hospitals that white
employee wellness programs on campus at UWSP. Employee coats could not answer many of my questions about why people
wellness became our living laboratory for student learning in change, coupled with my own transformational process, I came
the health and wellness degree program. to a better understanding of what wellness was. I started seeking
different models to integrate into cardiac rehabilitation that
In retrospect, we have found that being well is the common included alternative options that seemed to be working in the
value that brings people together to be collaborative. Hav- public and consumer markets. My patients became my teach-
ing a common value is the basis of collaboration, connection, ers. I eventually hired UWSP’s and NWI’s Dr. Bill Hettler as a
community, and sustainability. Wellness has become transdisci- keynote conference speaker, attended a workshop with Elaine
plinary, in that it integrates and has brought multidisciplinary Sullivan and John Travis, and finally attended NWI’s National
health professionals together with the consumer, business, and Wellness Conference. As a result, I left a large hospital and
health benefits. Everyone wants to be well, including multicul- urban life to move to rural Wisconsin and join the “fun and
tural and multigenerational populations. feel-good group.” Subsequently, I became the new Director of
Health Promotion and Wellness at UWSP and was charged with
Bill: Anne, what’s exciting now at NWI is that our board is fo- helping to develop a new profession.
cused on building a stronger multicultural and multigeneration-
al membership. The global worksite wellness challenges we face Bill: In my early years at NWI it was very exciting to experience
will take wellness solutions developed by wellness professionals the personal development and the community that the confer-
representing the diversity in our communities. NWI recognizes ence offered. But as I grew, I also started to question why we did
this need and is working toward a goal of more diversity! In fact, what we were doing on the worksite side. Why didn’t we use a
this year we will hold a Multicultural Academy at our national more community or public health approach? This started my
conference. lifelong learning around developing cultures of wellness.
Later this passion for developing cultures of wellness eventu-
So where did NWI fit in all of this? What role does NWI have to ally resulted in my collaboration on NWI’s worksite certifica-
play moving forward? tions. We teach that “we don’t do wellness alone.” Successful

TAHP-9
wellness programs include bringing families, teams, and orga- man values, not dollar values. Data can add objective informa-
nizations together as supportive cultures. A culture of wellness tion to help practitioners make impartial decisions to improve
is one that creates a community that shares a passion to be well, health and increase productivity. Also, data have given us some
and the need to pass it on. It is self-sustaining. I truly believe good evidence that affirms holistic wellness.
that NWI’s reframing of its vision and mission has the opportu-
nity to impact the whole world. How has worksite changed? How we approach employees and
Bringing wellness into the mainstream was about gathering people?
the collective voices that were interested in topics such as work-
site wellness. I started the Worksite Academy at the National Bill: There is a transition that we are still in right now. For
Wellness Conference with George Pfeiffer because people were years we separated from everyone else because we (the wellness
asking for more opportunities to collaborate. “When can we talk people) thought we were different and we thought that differ-
next?” We realized that there was a community that wanted to ence was important. We were the people who cared. We were on
be together more. the outside. Then we worked hard to get on the inside through
ROI and worksite wellness. Now we are in the third phase: total
What role do data now play in our programs? value. We are on the inside with business, but bringing care for
the people. It is both about money and about how people value
Bill: I keep wondering if data analytics is a good decision maker themselves at work. People who aren’t well have trouble having
for humans or for health care. At times I feel like we have taken any value at work. It isn’t just about the money, it is how employ-
the “caring” dimension out of our programs. That’s what I have ees value themselves and how worksites values employees. We
always liked about the NWI wellness model or the seven-dimen- will still talk about absenteeism, presenteeism, and ROI, but the
sion model you have used; they keep us honestly caring for one value piece is going to be huge, and that will sustain us. It puts
another. Data are very important in our programs, but at times in one place what is very important for business: Engagement.
programmers rely on the data more than on the intuitive data NWI is a really big part of that. I am excited about the change.
gained in the relationships or in really listening to the people
we serve. Anne: In the organizational and benefits area this has become
known as value-based health benefit design. I am most excited
Anne: I think the reemergence of “human value” is the most about cross training this group to include the total concept of
important ingredient that makes ROI work. It is more about hu- wellness as we have come to know it in NWI.

Is Wellness Going Back to the Future?

Paul E. Terry, PhD

W hen beliefs persist within a group for a long time, we

call this “tradition.” In this respect, traditional wellness
means the colorful interaction of mental, emotional, physi-
In this issue of The Art of Health Promotion (TAHP) we fea-
tured the remarkable 40-year journey of the National Wellness
Institute (NWI) by hosting conversations between eight wellness
cal, spiritual, and, well, you would be hard pressed to name leaders. To a person, these luminaries hold a holistic view of
a dimension that has not found its way onto someone’s well- wellness, but they also allude to concerns that wellness has
ness wheel. I use the word “colorful” decidedly because if you migrated to an emphasis on physical health and a discounting
Google the term “dimensions of wellness” using the images of the role of culture. I asked LuAnn Heinen, Vice President
tab you will find hundreds of vivid paletttes in homage to at the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), about this
multidimensional wellness. By tradition, wellness has never semantic shift. “I think wellness as it has long been defined was
been primarily about physical health. Nevertheless, the past reframed and narrowed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).”
year marks a growing interest, among wellness practitioners Heinen went on to explain how the ACA wellness provisions
and employer sponsors of wellness programs alike, to “move ratified incentives for improving health risks without addressing
from wellness to well-being” with a connotation that their additional dimensions of wellness and the programs and poli-
efforts have been too focused on the physical. Though the cies that support them. Heinen stresses that improving employ-
term “well-being” has eluded anything resembling a consen- ees’ physical health will remain a key strategy but that employee
sus definition, anytime someone tries to define well-being, it engagement and culture change are also of keen interest to
sounds retro. It’s as if they drove their 1981 DeLorean back employers.
to 1959 to visit Halbert Dunn, the physician who coined the In an article above, Brandan Hardie, Executive Director of
term wellness. NWI, interviewed NWI cofounder Dr. Bill Hettler. Reflecting

TAHP-10
“ Strive to make an impact every day and you may have an impact
on history and on wellness. You may be impacting a life in a way
that is incomprehensible to you right now.

on her interview, Hardie told me: “Talk-

”
employee engagement. Higher performance has become a
ing with Dr. Hettler, I am reminded of common theme among stakeholders interested in moving to the
the history book by a former teacher at next level in employee and community engagement. We may
McDonogh School, Martin McKibben: be reaching a juncture in wellness where this broader “value
What If? Exploring the Paths Not Taken in on investment” is an overreach. Says Hardie: “The movement is
American History. The book explored beginning to have critical mass where we no longer have to ask
historical events and how small changes ‘why wellness,’ but instead ‘how?’ In the next few years I expect
may have altered the past, present, and additional research will help hone best practices for worksite
future.” wellness. In addition, I expect to see additional efforts to cre-
Brandan Hardie, MBA, Exploring the genesis of Hettler’s dential and/or regulate our field to maintain high standards of
Executive Director of attraction to a small college town as a wellness practice.”
the National Wellness
Institute
place to exercise his passion for well- Though there is little new about the multi-dimensions related
ness, Hardie learned how a speech by the to wellness, or well-being, what does seem new is the way in
university’s chancellor, Dr. James Albertson, may have been a which different groups like NWI, NBGH, and the Health En-
turning point for Hettler. Says Hardie about influencers she hancement Research Group are converging around culture and
uncovers in her chat with Hettler: “What if Dr. Albertson had community connectivity as a dimension that warrants deeper
not created such a rich environment for personal and pro- investment. And when community comes into focus through
fessional growth at UWSP [University of Wisconsin–Stevens any lens, health disparities will come to the fore. According to
Point]? What if Dr. Bill Hettler had not decided to practice Hardie, “As wellness, exercise, mental health, and nutrition
medicine at the university? What if Gulick’s three-dimensional practices become more ingrained in our schools and in society
whole-person wellness triangle introduced at the YMCA had at large, I hope we are in the midst of raising a generation that
not been such an integral part of Dr. Hettler’s coming of age? better understands what it means to be well. And although the
What if Dr. Hettler and his team had never created a way to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Research are predicting a
make wellness concepts operational through an LAQ [Lifestyle growth in overall health care spending through 2022, I hope
Assessment Questionnaire]? What if Bob Bowen, the organizer this growth will include a refocus on preventative education and
of the first official conference, hadn’t been looking for work services to a new population of insured individuals. With every
one summer and asked Dr. Hettler for help?” advancement, corporations, government, local agencies, profes-
For the health promotion discipline and for the field of sional associations, and individuals must remember that there
worksite wellness in particular, it seems the overtures for a shift are populations who still don’t have easy access to health care,
to well-being may well mean we are at a significant “what-if” wellness information, and the social supports that make gains in
time in the wellness movement. Reflecting on the what-ifs from wellness possible.”
the early 1970s, Hardie says, “There were so many factors that From my vantage point, empirical evidence is a must if
came together in just the right way to form a solid foundation a shift to well-being is to represent something more than a
for what the wellness movement has become and how it has recycling of traditional ideas about holistic health. Current
influenced and been influenced by wellness practitioners, the evidence demonstrates the connections between health hab-
NWI, and respected journals like the American Journal of Health its, chronic conditions, and the related costs to employers and
Promotion. I embrace that first, history matters and we are privi- society. If well-being is to become a substantive term, we need
leged to work in a time that the concept of wellness is a natural new evidence showing the connections between dimensions
part of a global conversation. We are in this position because of such as community and social connectivity with outcomes
the work and dedication of those who came before us. Second, related to individual and organizational improvements such
people matter. We need to reach people where they are physi- as better health, engagement, and performance. What’s more,
cally, emotionally, and spiritually to make a difference. Third, we need more case examples of organizations and communi-
speaking to practitioners and wellness champions, one day ties who have achieved meaningful change through an invest-
someone might be describing a ‘what-if’ moment in reference ment in well-being. If well-being takes hold as a new, albeit
to you.” redundant, rallying call for a holistic health movement, fresh
If this last point strikes you as a Gandhi-like call to “be the voices exhorting others with refreshed nomenclature may
change” you want wellness to become, you read it correctly. be all it takes to disrupt the wellness movement back to the
Inspired by the global impact individuals and small groups have future.
made on wellness, Brandan goes on to say: “Strive to make an Leaders like Hardie and Heinen are predisposed to push
impact every day and you may have an impact on history and on for continuous improvement for their organizations, and they
wellness. You may be impacting a life in a way that is incompre- understand the role of metrics. As we define well-being, we may
hensible to you right now.” discover that a traditional approach to wellness has yet to be
Though some employers focus on chronic conditions and re- tested. Nevertheless, as I listen to these leaders ask “what if” and
turn on investment, most are pursuing a broader value proposi- enthuse about what’s next for the discipline, I also hear them
tion that is more holistic and that connects well-being to greater honoring the best of wellness traditions.

TAHP-11
Making Something Great! The 25th Annual Art and Science
of Health Promotion Conference
Paul E. Terry, PhD

W hen I ran a Word Cloud App based on this Journal’s confer-

ence participant feedback forms, words like outstanding,
amazing, and reinvigorating popped out. This year marks the
based” incentives held promise but could also be construed as
discriminatory cost shifting if not designed thoughtfully. This
topic has since been on a 22 year “Hegelian Spiral” in our field,
25th anniversary of The Art and Science of Health Promotion or, at least one hopes that the dialectic is trending upward and
Conference that was founded by Michael O’Donnell who has also not merely being continuously warmed over. What’s more
served as conference chairman and host for this past quarter of meaningful to me, though, is not that I correctly anticipated a
a century. On the fourth cloud design I set up, I hit enter and multifarious issue. O’Donnell had invited Professor Ken War-
the words Great and People landed front and center. Of course, I ner, someone I held in tremendous esteem, as his “What Have
thought, Michael would be the first to say that it has been great We Learned” closing session speaker. I still clearly recall how
people who have made for such great conferences year after year. generously and enthusiastically Warner recognized me and the
Winston Churchill said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up points from my session. As someone who O’Donnell has tapped
and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” to do this closing session the past few years, I am ever mindful of
This Journal’s Conference reviews routinely affirm the deep that professional boost I received at his conference and I do my
appreciation that over 15,000 participants have had to sit and best to pay it forward.
learn from the nearly 1400 faculty members who they have And, fortunately for our field, I find myself calling out the
found so “passionate” and “accessible.” On the 25th anniversary contributions of a much more age and gender balanced faculty.
of the publication of this Journal, Dr. O’Donnell wrote an article “It used to be difficult to find women speaker candidates who
that detailed twenty five major developments in the field over had a decade or more of experience and were experienced
those years, thirteen of which were documented in this Journal presenters.  Not anymore!” Declares O’Donnell. “Woman are
and nine that were authored by members of this Journal’s edito- moving into leadership positions. Also, major universities have
rial board.1 multiple faculty mem-
As one who has bers who are well versed
been fortunate enough in wellness.  It is not a
to have presented at fluff area or an emerg-
most of the confer- ing idea.”
ences, I recall how On this last point, I’d
these developments suggest that the role
created excitement and of the conference may
dialogue. New ideas are change from that of
all the more energiz- bringing credibility to a
ing when O’Donnell brings us together to learn in places like nascent field to that of stewardship of science and practice in an
Colorado Springs, San Diego, San Francisco, D.C., Las Vegas era of unfettered media. Plato said: “Wise men speak because
and Lake Tahoe. I asked O’Donnell about other trends he has they have something to say; fools because they have to say
noticed play out at these wondrous venues. “The audience has something.” My hope is that the conference long continues to
continued to evolve.  It used to be the seasoned wellness nuts serve as a bastion for truth telling at a time when blogger trolls
plus a smattering of clinical people making career changes.  It and self-published, self-appointed experts increasingly cloud
has evolved to people from so many different backgrounds over the truth. I can think of no leader more effective than
who have been tasked to develop a wellness program for their Michael O’Donnell has been in vetting, featuring, celebrating,
employer, or as a product offering. We now attract people who and preserving, professional excellence and integrity. In his
are very sophisticated in wellness, but come from a different “Reflections” article, O’Donnell wrote: “My dream in establish-
perspective, like economics, or policy, or city planning.” And, ing the American Journal of Health Promotion was to help make
predictably, as greater diversity of expertise enters our field, so a contribution to enhancing the scientific foundation of the
too have conference topics and modalities evolved. “Electronic field by providing a publishing forum for the many disciplines
technology has become the predominant delivery mechanism,” becoming involved in health promotion and to narrow the gap
noted O’Donnell. “Tech was so new 15 years ago that we had a between research and practice.” Isn’t it wonderful when dreams
separate exhibit day focusing on technology. Other topics have come true?
emerged including culture, incentives, active living and the built
environment. Financial analysis is still popular, but people are Reference
not desperate for it. We know how to do it so well now and the 1. O’Donnell MP. Reflections on the 25th anniversary of publishing
results are widely distributed.” the American Journal of Health Promotion: People, scientific progress,
My second time at the conference was in 1993 at Hilton Head, and missteps. Am J Health Promot. 2011;25:iv–xi. (Note: This article is
South Carolina where I presented on “Health Incentives and available at no charge through: http://www.ajhpcontents.com/doi/
Risk Rating.” I was arguing that what is today called “outcomes pdf/10.4278/ajhp.25.4.iv.)

TAHP-12
www.HealthPromotionJournal.com

EDITOR IN CHIEF
Michael P. O’Donnell, PhD, MBA, MPH

ASSOCIATE EDITORS IN CHIEF

Jennifer E. Taylor, PhD
Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld, PhD
Kwame Owusu-Edusei Jr., PhD*
Kerry J. Redican, MPH, PhD, CHES The Wisdom of Practice and the Rigor of Research

“The American Journal of Health Promotion provides a forum for

that rare commodity — practical and intellectual exchange between
researchers and practitioners.”
Kenneth E. Warner, PhD
Dean and Avedis Donabedian Distinguished University Professor of Public Health
School of Public Health, University of Michigan

“The contents of the American Journal of Health Promotion are

timely, relevant, and most important, written and reviewed by the
most respected researchers in our field.”
David R. Anderson, PhD, LP
Senior Vice President & Chief Health Officer, StayWell Health Management

Be the first Available exclusively to ONLINE SUBSCRIBERS

to know. The American Journal of Health Promotion is now publishing all articles
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