Perceptions of wellness within a non-profit organization seeking to prioritize wellness

Abstract

Wellness is a multidimensional construct that incorporates different dimensions that work in conjunction with each other to provide additive value to a person’s life. Wellness is more than the absence of illness. Wellness across different dimensions can mitigate burnout or symptoms of burnout, which is a risk within the non-profit sector. This phenomological study uses the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s model of wellness that incorporates eight dimensions of wellness (physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, environmental, occupational, intellectual, and social) to understand what wellness means to employees of a medium non-profit in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, how demographics and historical context (the COVID-19 pandemic) contribute to conceptualizations of wellness, and how the current worksite wellness program aligns with current perceptions of wellness. Overarching results suggest that people understand the multidimensionality of the wellness construct and that dimensions and combination of interactions of dimensions manifest differently across participants. Demographic characteristics link to wellness through identity, with differences across participants as to which identities were most connected to their wellness. The individual conceptualizations of wellness and range of identities related to wellness align with perceptions on COVID, with a range of stress levels emerging. Regarding worksite wellness and an ecological perspective, three main factors contribute to employees accessing wellness at work: equitable access (organizational level component), supervisor relationship (interpersonal level component), and personal responsibility (individual level component). These three components are part of an emotional-occupational wellness feedback loop that describes input factors to both dimensions of wellness and mitigating factors that help individuals achieve a balanced state of wellness. Organizations seeking to support staff wellness should take these three factors into account when planning health promotion programs in order to help remove organizational, personal, and interpersonal barriers as well as supporting social connections and individualized coping mechanisms to help prioritize wellness and prevent burnout.