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Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
Do Wellness Tourists Get Well? An Observational Study of Multiple Dimensions of Health and Well-Being After a Week-Long Retreat
The journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), Vol.23(2), pp.140-148
01/02/2017
PMCID: PMC5312624
PMID: 28068147
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Abstract
Background:
Wellness retreats use many complementary and alternative therapies within a holistic residential setting, yet few studies have evaluated the effect of retreat experiences on multiple dimensions of health and well-being, and no published studies have reported health outcomes in wellness tourists.
Objectives:
To assess the effect of a week-long wellness-retreat experience in wellness tourists.
Design:
A longitudinal observational study with outcomes assessed upon arrival and departure and 6 weeks after the retreat.
Setting:
A rural health retreat in Queensland, Australia.
Interventions:
A holistic, 1-week, residential, retreat experience that included many educational, therapeutic, and leisure activities and an organic, mostly plant-based diet.
Outcome measures:
Multiple outcome measures were performed upon arrival and departure and 6 weeks after the retreat. These included anthropometric measures, urinary pesticide metabolites, a food and health symptom questionnaire, the Five Factor Wellness Inventory, the General Self Efficacy questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Insomnia Rating Scale, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, the Profile of Mood States, and the Cogstate cognitive function test battery.
Results:
Statistically significant improvements (
p
< 0.05) were seen in almost all measures (
n
= 37) after 1 week and were sustained at 6 weeks (
n
= 17). There were statistically significant improvements (
p
< 0.001) in all anthropometric measures after 1 week, with reductions in abdominal girth (2.7 cm), weight (1.6 kg), and average systolic and diastolic pressure (−16.1 mmHg and −9.3 mmHg, respectively). Statistically significant improvements (
p
< 0.05) were also seen in psychological and health symptom measures. Urinary pesticide metabolites were detected in pooled urine samples before the retreat and were undetectable after the retreat.
Conclusion:
Retreat experiences can lead to substantial improvements in multiple dimensions of health and well-being that are maintained for 6 weeks. Further research that includes objective biomarkers and economic measures in different populations is required to determine the mechanisms of these effects and assess the value and relevance of retreat experiences to clinicians and health insurers.
Details
- Title
- Do Wellness Tourists Get Well? An Observational Study of Multiple Dimensions of Health and Well-Being After a Week-Long Retreat
- Creators
- Marc M Cohen - RMIT UniversityFiona Elliott - RMIT UniversityLiza Oates - RMIT UniversityAdrian Schembri - RMIT UniversityNitin Mantri - RMIT University
- Publication Details
- The journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), Vol.23(2), pp.140-148
- Publisher
- Mary Ann Liebert, Inc
- Identifiers
- 991012978057302368
- Copyright
- Copyright Marc M. Cohen et al., 2017; Published by Mary Ann Liebert.
- Academic Unit
- National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article