Well-being Wheel

At Western, we care about health and wellness and how it helps students thrive. We are here to support each student to find their unique pathway on their life-long well-being journey.

Well-being is:

  • Developing my identity and living as my authentic self.

  • Making lifelong healthy choices.

  • Learning and applying skills to meet my own physical, social, spiritual, intellectual, occupational, financial, emotional, and environmental needs.

  • Demonstrating resilient behavior, including the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful when faced with obstacles and challenging situations; including the ability to adapt and be flexible when responding to change.

  • Addressing external factors within communities, systems, and organizations that impact health/wellness.

The WMU Well-being Wheel is one of the ways that we can assess our own overall well-being. There are many factors that can impact a person's well-being, and the wheel helps us examine each area. 

a colorful wheel with 'public/organizational policy, equity, community/cultural norms, living & working environment, sustainability, and socioeconomic conditions/access' on the rim, slices between the spokes labeled 'emotional, intellectual, occupational, spiritual, financial, environmental, physical, and social' and 'identity' in the center of the wheel.

Individual Level (Middle Sections surrounding Identity)

  • Enhance holistic student success
  • Support balance between multiple determinants of well-being
  • Encourage healthy behaviors and build skills for navigating life
  • Identify needs for support and intervene early to connect people to resources and services

 

University and Community Level (Outer Gold Ring)

  • Ensure policies and institutional practices support health for all
  • Change the environment and culture to be more conducive to comprehensive well-being

 

WMU Well-Being Wheel Definitions (PDF download)