Employee Health and Wellbeing

Health is perceived as the body’s ability to function and the state of being free from illness or injury whereas wellbeing is the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy. Huber et al. (2011) define health as a level of functional or metabolic efficiency for a living organism. For humans, it is the ability of individuals or communities to adapt and self-manage when facing physical, mental or social challenges. A similar definition is provided in its broader sense that “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948 (World Health Organization, 2006). This statement has been criticised for decades as being vague and not measurable. Therefore, the definition was revised to the extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. “It is a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities” (World Health Organization, 1984). Mental, intellectual, emotional, and social health referred to a person’s ability to handle stress, to acquire skills, to maintain relationships, all of which form resources for resiliency and independent living (AFMC, 2016) as shown in Figure 6.1. However, more recent definitions correlate health and personal satisfaction to address the different way people cope with disabilities and with the limits of their condition (Bellieni & Buonocore, 2009; Zenit, 2013).