Even if the first important concepts, which practically represent the forerunners of our modern wellness idea, are very old, the term "wellness" can only look back on a very short history; also the ideas, which make up our understanding of this term today, are often not particularly old.
In the 1950s, the American social physician Halbert Dunn dealt with the 20. century with the question, how to care for a person's health and well-being. He came to the conclusion, that health is not just physical, but that a person's mental state can have a significant impact on their physical well-being. Dunn developed a concept, which he called "High Level Wellness" and which represents the cornerstone of our modern understanding of wellness.
Dunn put forward various theses, in denen er wichtige Zusammenhänge zwischen Körper und Geist veranschaulichte und wurde unterstützt von John Travis, Donald Ardell and Gerhart Hettler. These four scientists are considered the fathers of the modern wellness movement.
For around twenty years, however, the importance of these ideas was relatively small in practice - a strictly medical understanding prevailed, by assuming, that a disease is a disorder in the organism, which can be repaired in the same way a mechanic repairs damage to a vehicle's engine.
In the seventies of 20. However, at the end of the 20th century, the cost of treating disease and maintaining health in America rose so much, that the idea of High Level Wellness was able to conquer the healthcare system. Health insurance costs should be reduced, as scientists have now acknowledged, that health is not only defined by the absence of disease, but can also be characterized by mental, mental and social well-being.
The results of these studies were alarming: the scientists came to the conclusion, that almost half of the deaths before 65. age were due to the individual lifestyle. In this context, Dunn's concept was just what the decision-makers needed: the poor individual lifestyle should be improved with the help of the wellness concept, in order to reduce healthcare costs and ensure the long-term and lasting health of everyone involved.
They went back to the old view and even turned it around: not only a healthy body was now a prerequisite for a healthy mind - mental well-being was also associated with the frequency of illness.
In America, the wellness concept was a sensible and widespread supplement to classical medicine; one paid attention to it, that sick and vulnerable people not only good treatment, but could also use preventive measures, die nicht immer unbedingt direkt mit der Krankheit in Verbindung standen.