The findings are very supportive of our underlying multi-dimensional, whole person wellness philosophy and shows a growing marketplace for the Wellness Inventory program in the global spa industry as well as through the other eight industries in which the Wellness Inventory is currently licensing.
The philosophy of wellness pioneer and Wellness Inventory creator, John W. Travis, MD, MPH, appears to have had a strong influence on the report. The authors dedicate a full page to Dr. Travis concept of wellness and outline his pivotal role in the development of the wellness movement in United States. Dr. Travis' Wellness Inventory program and Wellness Workbook are described as "foundational tools for wellness development."
The authors encourage the spa industry to embrace Dr. Travis' concept of the Illness-Wellness Continuum and indicate that they used it as a key framing device for the entire report (p. 59). Dr. Travis' Continuum can "be an effective tool in helping people "get" wellness," according to the report. "It also allows individual spa entrepreneurs to map their customers and their product offerings along the continuum," the authors continue. "Each customer is at a very different place on the spectrum, but the goal of any wellness provider will be to move that client to the right, to the highest level of wellness that customer can achieve."
Most of us think of wellness in terms of illness and assume that the absence of illness indicates wellness, according to Dr. Travis. There are actually many degrees of wellness, just as there are many degrees of illness. The Illness-Wellness Continuum illustrates the relationship of the treatment paradigm to the wellness paradigm.
Moving from the center to the left shows a progressively worsening state of health. Moving to the right of center indicates increasing levels of health and wellbeing. The treatment paradigm (drugs, surgery, psychotherapy, herbs, and so on) can bring you up to the neutral point, where the symptoms of disease have been alleviated. That is all it is designed to do. The Wellness Paradigm, on the other hand, which can be utilized at any point on the continuum, helps you move toward higher levels of wellness.
The image of the Illness-Wellness Continuum appears twice in the report, and it was also adapted for two diagrams in the report, the "Wellness Cluster" of the nine industries comprising the wellness market, and "Opportunities for Spa in the Wellness Industry", by changing the two ends of the continuum from "Premature Death" and "High Level Wellness" to "Reactive" and "Proactive".
The report also seems to indirectly refer to one of the Wellness Inventory's strengths in helping spas create customized programs for their guests through the whole person assessment, and the ability to customize the 12 wellness resource centers with a spa's own services, classes, workshops, products and programs when it states, "Help consumers understand and select the spa's wellness offerings by utilizing wellness assessment tools to create individually tailored packages of services/products within the context of the different dimensions of wellness." (p vii)
The spa industry may take a closer look at the Wellness Inventory, a holistic assessment and life-balance program, and how it can effectively within a spa's guest engagement strategy, customizing of spa programs according to the clients needs and motivations as seen through the 12 dimensions of wellness, and providing an ongoing holistic welness program that one can begin at the spa and take home with them to continue the spa wellness experience through ongoing wellness coaching support.
View the full report from SRI