Health and Wellness 

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At the core of student life and learning are positive states of Health and Wellness.  Without health and wellness, academic success is severely compromised and personal and social development rendered difficult, if not impossible.  Supporting health and wellness is therefore the primary of all who make up the Queen's community, and the support of these important states is essential to the building of community.

What is Health? 

While the term "health" may be understood in a number of ways, the World Health Organization offers a useful and comprehensive definition:               

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.[1]  

What is Wellness? 

"Wellness" is also difficult to define, but the National Wellness Institute offers an equally comprehensive framework for understanding the term:

Wellness is an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.[2]

The National Wellness Institute further notes that

• Wellness is a conscious, self-directed and evolving process of achieving full potential;       
• Wellness is multi-dimensional and holistic, encompassing lifestyle, mental and spiritual well-being, and the environment·       
• Wellness is positive and affirming 

The holistic model developed by the National Wellness Institute presents a multidimensional approach to human development, including the physical, social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, environmental and occupational aspects of human experience. 

[1] Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.

[2] "National Wellness Institute," http://www.nationalwellness.org/index.php?id_tier=2&id_c=26