Wellness, Anyone?
One of the current trends in healthcare is wellness programs offering complimentary and alternative therapies and preventative screenings. A recent survey by the American Hospital Association indicates that 37% percent of hospitals are offering such programs, which can be used by people in the community as well as hospital patients and staff.
Last week, I participated in a workgroup to look at the design guidelines for residential care facilities (i.e., nursing homes and assisted living). The assignment of my sub-group was to see if there was a place to insert something about wellness centers.
We concluded that residents in long-term care and assisted living facilities also have access to wellness programs, but that it is not something unique to residential care.
After doing a quick search on the Internet, we also came up with this definition of a wellness center: A place where there is access to programs that support the integration of the physical, psychological, social and spiritual components of wellness to help people of all ages and fitness levels live healthy lifestyles.
These programs may be offered in freestanding wellness center facilities that are adjacent to or affiliated with a private company, community hospital, or long-term care/assisted living facility. They may also be offered in spaces that are within the companies, hospitals, or residential care facilities themselves.
Some, like outgoing Center for Health Design board member Leonard Berry, think that employers are going to lead the way in reinventing healthcare in the U.S. Besides complimentary and alternative therapies, companies are also providing onsite primary care, which Berry claims is a very fast moving trend in this country.
I think he’s right…and it won’t end when people retire from working. They will continue to embrace the concept of wellness and want access to those services in their communities. So, it makes sense to at least acknowledge in the design guidelines that this is a trend and begin to think about what types of facilities are being designed to support wellness programs.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:12 am
Hi Sara,
Thanks for this piece. In a recent fiscussion on the health care reform bill that just passed, this issue of wellness was raised and like Leonard Berry, It may just be that employers spearhead change through these programs. From what i could understand from the bill though, your ‘wellness’ would be medically managed by your PCP - and there would be rewards for staying well, but I also think these go to care providers and not necessarily individuals. Have you heard anything about this?
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:19 am
That would of course, be discussion and not fiscussion :)
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:41 pm
I have not heard anything about it…but Berry is convinced that employer clinics are the wave of the future. He’s doing a study of 10 corporations across America that have wellness programs/clinics, which should be published sometime next year.