What links health and well-being to the possibility of a sustainable future?
And why should attention to these issues be a priority for governments around the world?
Health and well-being are fundamental to all of us, and when they are lacking, every other aspect loses importance, we feel disempowered, and we cannot cope with life in the right way.
Sustainable goal number 3 among the 17 developed by the UN for the 2030 Agenda, health and well-being are priority aspects for every human being, and the consequences of a lack of attention to these issues are reflected in various aspects of our daily living and society.
Thus, being a carrier of a project inherent in the protection of health and well-being leads to participation in the construction of a sustainable future.
Sustainability, health and well-being.
Sustainability is like a three-armed scale, each of which represents Person, Planet and Profit, respectively. Each of these three aspects must be in balance with the other two in order to achieve a truly sustainable system.
Health and well-being sit squarely in the middle of the Person, Planet, Profit triad in that they can impact or be impacted by each of the three pillars of sustainability.
Without health and well-being, the balance between the three arms breaks down and the process of sustainable development comes into trouble.
So let’s see how health and wellness can keep the scales in balance and move us in the right direction.
The Person: social impact
The social axis is clearly the one most impacted by the focus on health and wellness issues.
The ability to be healthy and to be able to take care of myself directly impacts my ability to be well and thus to actively participate in the life of society.
If I am healthy, I have contact with friends and colleagues, I move around without problems, I am autonomous, so I do not need assistance, and I can propose activities of various kinds and contribute to the development of social ties, to nurture and be nurtured by participation in the community in which I live and work.
If I am not healthy, I will need assistance, specialized personnel, and a social support network. My activities will change as a result of my situation, and it will become essential to be able to return to health or otherwise be accompanied to adapt to a different life living with my illness.
Same for the concept of well-being, which is related to that of health while constituting a variant of it.
(You can read more about the concept of well-being in the article “People, Light and Nature at the Center of the Sustainable Company.”)
Therefore, it has become important to associate health and wellness with the topic of prevention, i.e., all those individual or medical activities that enable us to prevent illness and disease and to live our daily lives healthily: practicing sports, eating healthy, living in a place with good air and water quality and no pollutants, having good social relationships, having access to preventive medical acts, etc.
We can infer from this that investing in health and well-being produces socially active citizens, capable of rendering service to themselves and others and nurturing the community in which they live.
Profit: the economic impact
Let us begin by saying that a person in good health and in a state of well-being has inherent potential to participate actively in the country’s economy through his or her work, economic contribution, possible charitable activities, and active participation in the social sphere.
Preventing illness and disease and providing citizens with appropriate tools to be active and fit brings individual savings but also to the level of public spending, and increased productivity in the long run, as it participates in the ability of individuals to render service to the society in which they live.
This is the reason why in an equitable economic system one should have access to prevention and treatment commensurate with one’s income: for the same service provided, a low-income person should be able to have screenings and receive treatment at an affordable price or free of charge, so as to ensure access to these services and limit expenses related to health problems that could have been limited or avoided in the presence of a preventive act.
Similarly, people who encounter health problems or prolonged unwell situations should be able to be helped and accompanied financially as well, so that they can live their situation adequately and worthily and take the best possible advantage of the social environment. It is important to add that adequate assistance, prevents the person’s family members from having to sacrifice their work and family and social life, keeping them in business and thus limiting the widening of the negative impact on the social and economic environment.
These aspects show us how proper attention to health and wellness issues can bring a positive impact on the economy of the society in which we live.
The Planet: ecological impact
Let’s start by saying that most habits that harm health end up having a negative impact on the environment as well. Here are some examples below.
Eating preserved foods containing an excess of fat and calories (so-called “junk food”) is not only bad for our bodies but also negatively impacts the environment, as these foods are often packaged in packaging that is not always recyclable, and may be the result of production processes that consume energy and resources that could be saved for the good of all.
On the contrary, eating fresh, unprocessed and possibly locally produced foods will make our bodies as well as the environment happy.
Similarly, using the car for short trips even when unnecessary could be replaced by healthy walking or riding a bicycle.
Practices that help the body and the planet often also save us money: giving up the car to walk or bike, buying at the farmers’ market or from local producers will save us money, and the wallet will also find relief.
Another aspect that I feel like highlighting is related to the environmental impact associated with health care. The health care sector is particularly subject to the consumption of energy, resources, and the massive production of waste that is not always recyclable. The inescapable need for sterile environments and equipment is to be included among the elements that limit the possibility of easily and quickly reducing the consequences on the environment.
As much as technology is making great strides to remedy these issues, the negative impact of the health sector on the environment remains an indisputable reality at present. Prevention and timely treatment of disease and illness states thus lead not only to economic savings but also to reduced impacts on the environment.
Thus, one can better understand how activities devoted to improving health and well-being can benefit sustainability and how much attention needs to be paid to these issues.
Many other topics can be brought to your attention to motivate the positive link between health, wellness, and sustainability; we have brought some of them to your attention in this article and invite you to continue the discussion with people you know.
If you have content to propose on this topic or have any questions, please contact us at : info@theslowcorner.com
(Important ! The Slow Corner is committed to making available free access content like the one you just read. To support our work you can make a donation on our Ko-fi page : https://ko-fi.com/theslowcorner )