In the last decade novel sensing technologies enabled development of applications that help individuals with chronic diseases monitor their health and activities. These applications often generate large volumes of data that need to be processed and analyzed. At the same time, many of these applications target non-professionals and individuals of advanced age and low educational level. These use...

The health cost crisis has spawned a thriving cost-control industry that offers an ever-growing number of “solutions.” The authors of this article encourage employers to go back to the basics in evaluating these offerings, including their wellness policies and programs. This article describes the many ways different employers do wellness, the evidence base for wellness, how employers should tar...

More than 80% of African Americans in Oregon reside in the Portland metropolitan area; African Americans comprise 1.7% of the state's population. Although relatively small, the African American population in the state experiences substantial health disparities. The African American Health Coalition, Inc was developed to implement initiatives that would reduce these disparities and to promote in...

Community health workers (CHWs) have gained increased visibility in the United States. We discuss how to strengthen the roles of CHWs to enable them to become collaborative leaders in dramatically changing health care from "sickness care" systems to systems that provide comprehensive care for individuals and families and supports community and tribal wellness. We recommend drawing on the full s...

Understanding of the definitions of wellness and illness has changed from the mid-20th century to modern times, moving from a diagnosis-focused to a person-focused definition of mental illnesses, and from an "absence of disease" model to one that stresses positive psychological function for mental health. Currently, wellness refers to the degree to which one feels positive and enthusiastic abou...

Incidence of pediatric overweight continues to pose significant national health threats due to associated co-morbid, chronic conditions, including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and others. Interventions to address health behaviors of children often focus on the school environment because of the opportunity to have an impact on child health through nutrition education and optimi...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article is to discuss the term wellness in the context of the philosophy of chiropractic. DISCUSSION PubMed and Index to Chiropractic Literature show an upward trend in use of the term wellness. Wellness may be used differently depending upon the profession and may be considered a process by some and an outcome by others. CONCLUSION There appears to be no conse...

BACKGROUND School wellness policies are a key component to the prevention of adolescent obesity. This national research study sought to understand the wellness environment in school districts across the country and to identify challenges districts face and needs they have in order to effectively implement, monitor, and evaluate school wellness policies. The study determined (1) perceptions, bar...

BACKGROUND In 2003, Steps to a Healthier Austin was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement chronic disease prevention and health promotion activities. We report Steps to a Healthier Austin's partnership with Health & Lifestyles Corporate Wellness, Inc (Health & Lifestyles), to provide a worksite wellness program for Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (C...