The concept of
wellness is broader and includes more facets of human life than the traditional
definition of health, and the two differ in an important way. When defined as
the absence of disease, health may be measured and assessed objectively. For
example, a physical examination and the results of laboratory testing enable a
physician to determine that a patient is free of disease and thereby healthy.
In comparison,
wellness is a more subjective quality and is more difficult to measure. The determination
of wellness relies on self-assessment and self-reports. Further, it is not
necessarily essential that individuals satisfy the traditional definition of
good health to rate themselves high in terms of wellness. For instance, many
people with chronic (ongoing or long-term) conditions—such as diabetes, heart
disease, or asthma—or disabilities report high levels of satisfaction with each
of the six dimensions of wellness. Similarly, people in apparently good health
may not necessarily give themselves high scores in all six aspects of wellness.