We all know there’s value in living a healthy lifestyle. But sometimes being motivated to do so is the hardest part.
Plus, there’s more to health and wellness in older age than eating right and exercising. Herein enter the eight dimensions of wellness.
If you want to help your parents or an aging loved one live well in old age, you might be driving them to medical appointments, learning about their health conditions, or running to the pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions. While physical health plays an important role in wellness, there are actually eight dimensions of wellness that affect how your loved one feels.
Wellness is a holistic approach to health. When tailored to older adults, the eight dimensions of wellness include developmental, cognitive, physical, emotional, spiritual, relational, vocational, and contextual wellness. Here’s what each one looks like:
These 8 dimensions of wellness are all interwoven and correlated with one another.
When one dimension suffers, others suffer, too. For an example, consider how if your older parent is struggling with depression, they may not just feel it emotionally but might also feel physical fatigue. Another example: If your loved one wrestles with feelings of anxiety, they might also experience gut-health issues or have difficulty breathing while they’re feeling overwhelmed.
But when your loved one thrives in one area, other areas will thrive, too. For instance, if your loved one participates in a water aerobics class, they enjoy the physical benefits of building strength and improving circulation as well as the social benefits of meeting other people and the emotional benefits of relieving stress.
This is why it is important to support your aging loved one in making sure all aspects of their life are healthy and fulfilled. A key part of wellness, especially for seniors, is a sense of empowerment: Each day we wake up, we make choices that can have immediate or long-term effects on our well-being. By empowering your loved one to take personal responsibility for their day-to-day choices and intentionally focusing on the 8 dimensions of wellness, they can identify what areas of their life are fulfilled and healthy and what areas need improvement and attention.
For example, they might be financially fulfilled and fulfilled by volunteer work, but they may be lacking meaningful social relationships and socialization. Identifying this can allow them to prioritize their social needs and work toward balancing their lifestyle. Perhaps they schedule a Zoom call with a friend and make an effort to ask how they are doing and communicate to them how they are feeling and more.
If you want to help your parents or aging loved one live a happy and healthy life, invite them to think of wellness as being healthy in many dimensions of their lives. Here are some questions you can ask them to help prioritize their wellness and be aware of their needs and how they are to be met.
Intentionally focusing on the 8 dimensions of wellness can help your loved one identify what their core health values and needs are as well as the things that they need to live a fulfilled and healthy life. It can also help them to identify the things that they need to do to be fulfilled developmentally, cognitively, physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally, vocationally, and contextually or whatever other needs they have.
To learn tips, activities, and habits that support each aspect of wellness, download our eBook Living a Healthier, Happier Life: A Guide Exploring Healthy Aging in Older Adults. With the right information, supports, and resources, your aging loved one can become the healthiest, happiest person they can be.