Do Wellness Tourists Get Well? An Observational Study of Multiple Dimensions of Health and Well-Being After a Week-Long Retreat

Summary & key facts

Researchers followed 37 people who went to a one-week, rural wellness retreat in Australia. The retreat offered classes, therapies, free time, and an organic mostly plant-based diet. After the week many health measures improved, and those improvements mostly lasted when 17 people were checked again six weeks later. The study was observational, so it shows a link between the retreat and better health but cannot prove the retreat caused the changes. The authors say bigger and more controlled studies are still needed.

Key facts:

• 37 people attended a one-week residential wellness retreat that included classes, therapies, leisure, and an organic mostly plant-based diet.
• After one week, almost all health measures the researchers used showed statistically significant improvement for those 37 people.
• Body measurements improved after the retreat: abdominal girth went down by about 2.7 cm and weight fell by about 1.6 kg.
• Blood pressure dropped a lot after one week: the top number (systolic) fell by about 16 mmHg and the bottom number (diastolic) fell by about 9 mmHg.
• Psychological measures also improved after the retreat. Tests of stress, depression, sleep quality, mood, and self-confidence showed better scores after the week.
• Urine tests that were made from combined samples showed pesticide traces before the retreat and none detected after the retreat.
• When the researchers re-checked 17 people six weeks later, most of the improvements were still present.
• This was an observational study without a control group and with a small sample. That means the results show a relationship but cannot prove the retreat caused the improvements. The authors call for larger, more rigorous studies to find out why the changes happened and how useful retreats are for different people.

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.

Topics

Global Healthcare and Medical Tourism High Altitude and Hypoxia Travel-related health issues

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Tags

Anthropometry Anxiety Clinical psychology Depression (economics) Economics Gerontology Internal medicine Linguistics Macroeconomics Medicine Mental health Mood Observational study Perceived Stress Scale Philosophy Physical therapy Psychiatry Psychological intervention Stress (linguistics)

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Depression Sleep disorder Anxiety or worry Lack of energy or motivation Poor sleep Sadness or low mood