Wellness as We Age

When we hear the word wellness, we automatically think of physical wellness – our physical health and how we stay healthy with physical activity, diet and sleep. However, did you know that eight dimensions of wellness contribute to your overall health? Each dimension is important as you try to live your best life, and research shows that physical aging is impacted by the choices you make within each area of your life.

The dimensions of wellness include:  

• Physical wellness: caring for your body
• Emotional wellness: understanding and respecting your feelings
• Spiritual Wellness: finding purpose, value and meaning in your life
• Environmental wellness: the impact of the environment on your health and wellness
• Intellectual wellness: expanding your knowledge
• Financial wellness: managing your resources and planning for your future
• Social wellness: maintaining healthy relationships and contributing to your community
• Vocational wellness: contributing your skills and talents to work that is meaningful and rewarding

Often, programs for senior adults are focused on physical wellness. There are exercise programs and good nutrition programs, screening programs for blood pressure and exams for vision. Few programs take a holistic approach to wellness by including emotional, spiritual or financial wellness.   

Just as we need to check our physical wellness, we should also check our wellness in each of the seven other dimensions of wellness. Emotional wellness contributes to many other areas of wellness. As a result, keeping our emotional wellness balanced will lead to balance in our overall wellness.

Emotional wellness is tied to how we feel about our life. To check your emotional wellness, ask yourself how you manage your stress levels and if you are content most days. Your emotional wellness is tied to your support network, social engagement and a stress free environment. Generally, if you are feeling socially connected, interacting with your community and contributing to it and doing things you enjoy, you most likely feel emotionally well and experience overall better health!  

One benefit of senior and assisted living communities, such as One MacDonough Place, is that they provide a wide variety of programs to meet the wellness needs of their residents.

About One MacDonough Place

These helpful tips are from One MacDonough Place, an assisted living community owned by Middlesex Health. It is located in Middletown.

For more information about One MacDonough Place, visit onemacdonoughplace.org or call 860-358-5802.