Wellness has always been a concept that I associated simply with
physical health. I wasn't aware that wellness, in essence, was a stand-
alone state and could affect other areas of life. Looking at the idea of
wellness through the four lenses has been a bit of a revaluation and a
good exercise in interdisciplinary research. I have always been
interested in history, so I was naturally drawn to that lens. However,
over the course of the eight weeks, I became increasingly aware that
wellness is a living, human subject, and looking at it through the social
science lens was perhaps the most informative. This human element led
me to look closely at The Eight Dimensions of Wellness (Garcia, 2015)
and that was also an eye opener. An imbalance in one area, such as
economics, could lead to problems in another, such as mental health,
environment etc.
One discussion about wellness that worries me is that the lack of
financial wellness is on the rise. We are all aware that the cost of living
crisis is now a global problem, and many people have to severely cut
back on spending and no longer have the ability to save. Aside from the
pressing immediate financial problems that people are suffering,
inability to pay for services, cost of food rising, pay cuts etc, many have
started cutting back on personal pensions and life insurance; this will be
problematic for financial wellness in the future when they reach
retirement age and don't have enough funds to live a decent life.
Problems in the economic area of life lead to problems in other areas—
health problems due to stress, home life problems, and family members'
arguments. The Eight Wellness Dimensions (Garcia, 2015) are like
dominos, knock one over, and they all start to fall. The future is
uncertain for so many people now. For the first time in generations,
people can no longer expect a better standard of living than their
parents (Lubhy, 2020). This is worrying at a personal level and globally.
Critical analysis is a valuable skill. As Brown and Keely discuss,
analysing critically is a process of deconstructing what you read, write
and listen to in a rational and logical manner (2012). Professionally, I
write a lot of articles for various publications, including local
newspapers. I need to make sure that my sources are legitimate. Using
critical analysis is a great way of cutting through dubious “facts,”
opinions, and information to get to the truth of the matter. I found a
series of critical analysis questions useful
What do I already know
What do I need to find out
Is it fact or opinion?
What evidence is available?
Is there any bias in play?
Can they back up their claim with provable evidence.
Out-with personal use of critical analysis for work, it is essential for
navigating modern life. What are you reading on the internet, what are
you seeing on the news? We can't just accept everything as a fact, we
need to work out for ourselves if these issues are true. Critical analysis
can help with all areas of life from not buying products that seem too
good to be true to electing politicians who also seem too good to be
true.
Browne, M & Keeley, S (2012)
Asking the right questions: a guide to
critical thinking
, 10th edn, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Garcia, C.,(2015).
What Are The Eight Dimensions of Wellness In Your
Life?
Colorado Nurse, retrieved Aug 17th 2022,
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Lubhy, T. (2020) CNN, retrieved Aug. 17th 2022,
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/11/politics/millennials-income-
stalled-upward-mobility-us/index.html
