What is wellness? The difference from health management, plus 5 examples of corporate adoption

More and more HR, general affairs, and corporate planning staff are asking us, “What exactly is wellness?” and “How does it differ from health management?” Wellness is not simply about promoting health; it is a holistic concept that encompasses physical, mental, and social well-being.

This article gives a simple overview of what wellness means, the eight-dimensional model, how it differs from health management, real-world corporate examples of wellness adoption, and three steps you can start on your own.

What is wellness? A simple explanation

Wellness refers toactively pursuing a better physical, mental, and social state—not merely being free of illness. The concept was introduced in the 1950s in lectures by the American physician Dr. Halbert Dunn and became widely known through his 1961 book “High-Level Wellness.” Going a step beyond “health,” it spread as a positive view of health that includes a sense of purpose, happiness, and social participation.

It overlaps considerably with the WHO (World Health Organization) definition of health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being,” and today it is applied across a wide range of fields such as medicine, food, exercise, sleep, mental care, and the workplace environment.

Wellness in one minute

• Definition: A concept of pursuing positive health in which body, mind, and society are all in good condition
• Keywords: QOL (quality of life), well-being, health promotion
• Related fields: diet, exercise, sleep, mental care, social participation, career
• Who it applies to: multi-layered—from individuals and families to workplaces and local communities
• The difference: unlike “health,” which tends to be seen medically as “the absence of illness,” wellness is a positive view of health that also includes the mind, society, and a sense of purpose

The eight dimensions of wellness

To capture wellness from multiple angles, the basic framework is the six-dimensional model proposed by Dr. Bill Hettler in the United States National Wellness Institute , which the U.S. SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) and others expanded by adding financial and environmental dimensions intothe “eight-dimensional model,”a system that is now widely known. In the design of health management and employee benefits at Japanese companies, initiatives that keep these eight dimensions in mind are increasing.

Dimension	Meaning	Examples
Physical	Exercise, diet, sleep, condition management	Moderate exercise, healthy eating habits, health checkups
Mental (emotional)	Recognizing emotions and dealing with them in healthy ways	Stress management, meditation, counseling
Social	Connections with family, workplace, and community	Community participation, building relationships
Intellectual	Learning, curiosity, creativity	Reading, reskilling, taking on new challenges
Occupational	Job satisfaction and views on one’s career	Work that fits one’s aptitude, fulfilling work, career development
Environmental	Living environment, nature, workplace space	Contact with nature, a well-organized workplace environment
Spiritual	Values, outlook on life, the search for meaning	Meditation, beliefs, volunteering, self-reflection
Financial	Economic stability and future planning	Household budgeting, saving, building assets

If any one of the eight dimensions declines sharply, overall wellness tends to fall apart. Being mindful of balance and keeping each in order leads to long-term health and a sense of purpose.

What is the difference between wellness and health management?

“Wellness” and “health management” are often confused, but they differ in perspective, purpose, and metrics. A comparison looks like this:

Aspect	Wellness	Health management
Actor	Individuals and society	Companies and management
Purpose	Improving QOL and a sense of happiness	Improving labor productivity and business performance
Scope	Multidimensional: body, mind, society, career, and more	Mainly improving the health of employees
Metrics	Subjective happiness, QOL scores	Health checkup results, turnover rate, presenteeism
Background	Developed from the 1950s in the U.S. (Dr. Dunn)	From the 1990s onward; in Japan it took off in earnest with METI’s 2014 initiatives

“Wellness management” and “health management 2.0”As these terms suggest, initiatives that integrate wellness and health management are also spreading. The “Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program” promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry sets multifaceted evaluation items such as diet, sleep, work fulfillment, and mental health, making it an area with broad points of contact with the idea of wellness (reference:Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry: Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program）。

5 corporate wellness initiatives

When a company adopts wellness, there are several entry points such as employee benefits, talent strategy, office environment, and dietary support. Here we introduce the direction of five representative initiatives.

1. Office food (in-house stocked food and cafeteria support)

This is an initiative to keep vegetables, dried foods, and healthy snacks stocked in the office to help improve employees’ eating habits. Because setting up a new company cafeteria is a heavy burden, benefit services that combine regular delivery with in-office stocking are being chosen.

Office Yaoya, operated by Agriture, Office Yaoya (office greengrocer) lowers the barrier to office adoption in the following ways.

• Centered on shelf-stable dried vegetables: can be placed even without a large refrigerator in the office
• Regular delivery and small-pack options: low operational burden for the person in charge and minimal waste
• Cost kept down through non-standard produce and direct-from-farm sourcing: easy to sustain even on a limited benefits budget
• Seasonal Kyoto-grown vegetables plus healthy snacks: a lineup employees can look forward to

It is a system that lets even small and mid-sized companies, startups, and branch offices without a cafeteria start their wellness efforts from the dietary area.

2. Enhanced health checkups and preventive care

This is a preventive approach in partnership with medical institutions, including expanded options for regular checkups, subsidies for comprehensive medical exams, specific health guidance, and lifestyle-disease prevention programs. Early detection and intervention lead to lower medical costs and greater peace of mind for employees.

3. Mental health care and counseling

This includes introducing an EAP (Employee Assistance Program), placing in-house counselors, conducting regular stress checks, and offering meditation and mindfulness programs. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in mental health has continued to rise, making it a key area of corporate wellness measures.

4. Diversifying benefits (fitness, sleep, exercise)

These are measures that support physical wellness, such as corporate gym memberships, yoga and Pilates subsidies, sleep-improvement apps, and health point systems. At companies centered on remote work, subsidies for fitness apps and online training subscriptions are also increasing.

5. Wellness tourism and employee training

These include employee training in rural areas, hot-spring towns, and nature-rich environments; wellness-tourism-style off-site meetings; and team building that incorporates farming experiences. In Japan, organizations such as the Wellness Tourism Association have developed certified programs, and the Japan Tourism Agency is also promoting community-linked wellness tourism.

3 steps to start wellness on your own

Wellness is not only for companies—individuals can start today. Since it is hard to balance all eight dimensions at once, we recommend tackling them in the following three steps, in order of ease.

STEP 1: Get your physical wellness in order

• Be conscious of vegetables, protein, and fermented foods in every meal
• Get around seven hours of sleep a day
• Incorporate aerobic exercise (walking or jogging) three times a week

STEP 2: Get your mental and social wellness in order

• Manage stress with five minutes a day of meditation or breathing exercises
• Make time for conversation with family, friends, and coworkers
• Maintain social connections through hobbies and community activities

STEP 3: Cultivate intellectual, occupational, and financial wellness

• Reading, relearning, and acquiring new skills
• Reflecting on work fulfillment and career outlook, and setting goals
• Reviewing household finances and planning for the future (NISA, iDeCo, insurance)

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare operates e-Healthnet, where experts explain wellness information across fields such as exercise, diet, and sleep. Please refer to it as well.

Trends in the wellness industry and related terms

The global wellness industry continues to grow rapidly; according to the Global Wellness Institute, the wellness economy reached USD 5.6 trillion worldwide (2022). In Japan too, the market is expanding in fields such as wellness food, wellness tourism, and health tech.

Related terms worth knowing

• Fasting: a health practice of restricting food for a set period. Positioned within the dietary area of wellness.
• Plant-based: a diet centered on plant-derived foods. A prime example of wellness combined with sustainability.
• Sustainable: a concept closely tied to environmental wellness as well.
• Functional vegetables: vegetables with enhanced nutrition or added value. A core part of wellness food.
• Well-being: used almost synonymously with wellness and highly valued in corporate management as well

Summary: wellness works through both companies and individuals

Wellness is a holistic concept of pursuing positive health across body, mind, and society. Although its perspective differs from that of health management, combining the two makes for an initiative that is valuable to both companies and employees.

The key to successful wellness is to start without strain—individuals from whichever of the eight dimensions is easiest to begin with, and companies through a combination of diet, health checkups, mental care, and benefits. Agriture supports the dietary area of corporate wellness through Office Yaoya (office greengrocer) and wholesale and OEM of commercial dried vegetables , both easy to keep up even in a busy office.

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