Carmen Bowen-Wright
READERS, AFTER the last column, I promised to complete the discussions on the last two types of wellness. You will remember that wellness has, in my opinion, four aspects - physical, mental, spiritual, and occupational. Having already discussed the first two types of wellness, the last two, spiritual and occupational, will be discussed today.
Spiritual wellness is hard to define, yet I know most people can recognise spirit. Hence we talk about a good spirit, a cheerful spirit or a beautiful spirit. The Old Testament shows that the basic meaning of spirit has to do with something unseen and powerful that is full of life or life giving. Many people's spirituality is born out of religion. However, many persons grasp their spirituality from mundane things such as flowers, the environment, dance, art and other pursuits. They confess about how an activity keeps their spirit soaring. Those who have spiritual wellness have captured, from whatever source, this unseen quality (spirit) which is uplifting, vibrant and promotes optimism and good health.
I know of a woman who lost her legs, yet her vibrant spirit supported her through months of suffering, before she was well enough to use a wheelchair. Her spirit was of such that she undauntingly carried on with her life. This is a clear illustration of the importance of spiritual health in enabling good physical health.
HEALTHY WORKPLACES
The environment in which one works must be healthy or workers will have poor occupational health. Some of the desirables are a clean environment including clean air, sanitary conveniences and a wellness centre for rest when necessary. Stress at the workplace causes loss of work time for simple, non- life-threatening illnesses. These attacks are usually repetitive. Hence, workers and supervisors must be firm, yet, not be a stress factor in the lives of workers.
Many workers suffer physical ill-health due to the environment. For example, in a case where management refuses to put the temperature up on the central A/C causing workers to keep on getting colds or leaking sinuses. Workers are often afraid of losing the job if they protest too loudly so the condition is not corrected. Another example is not providing protective gears, such as overalls, gloves and goggles. I know of a male worker who lost his sight in one eye while welding without goggles. On the other hand, often when these gears are provided, workers do not use the protective gears, thus jeopardising their occupational health.
WORKERS AT HOME
I now want to pay attention to workers in the home. Some are homeowners who do their own housekeeping, others work for homeowners. You must become conscious that certain factors in the home environment can harm your health. Like workers outside the home, you also need protective gears. For example, the dust sweepings from the floors usually contain the 'house mite' which is not visible to the naked eye but you are breathing it in. The dust mite triggers asthma in susceptible persons and can trigger rhinitis (a cold-like condition). You are advised when you sweep, to use a simple disposable face mask, (obtained at pharmacies). Similarly, harsh chemicals are used in cleaning, disinfecting and spraining for insects, so wear appropriate masks and gloves.
I would like to hear from readers as to their source of spirituality and/ or if they think they have occupational health.
So long until week after next.
Dr. Carmen Bowen-Wright is a preventive medicine specialist and wellness physician, Le Clinique, Eden Gardens, phone: 927-4301; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
