At WHI-Institute, we work to develop Salutogénesis in the workplace. When we share this, our clients often react with confusion and perplexity. This is completely normal. Salutogénesis is a concept widely found in Nordic countries, but not yet in Spain.
Therefore, we want to explain what it is. We will also share why introducing it to your organization is so promising, whether you are a large company, a hospital, or a school.
Who Is Aaron Antonovsky?
Born in New York in 1923 to Jewish parents, Aaron Antonovsky earned his PhD in Sociology from Yale University. In 1960, he emigrated to Israel under a UN program to help rebuild the country after World War II. There, he worked at the Israel Institute for Applied Social Research and the Department of Social Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
What and Where Is the Origin of Health?
In this environment, Antonovsky began researching stress and anxiety. He studied women, some of whom had survived concentration camps. As expected, the survivors showed significantly more signs of illness than the control group. However, up to 29% of these former prisoners reported relatively good mental health and a satisfying life, despite their traumatic experiences [1].
If Antonovsky had ignored these results as statistically insignificant, we would not have this entirely new approach to health and life. This approach is Salutogénesis: “the origin of health”. He was curious about how Holocaust survivors could still love, live “normal” lives, build good relationships, and have families and jobs without becoming dysfunctional.
Challenging the status quo, his curiosity led him to ask the questions that changed everything. Why do some people stay healthy despite being exposed to so many harmful influences? How do they manage to recover from illnesses? What makes them special?
What Is Salutogénesis?
The model and theory created by Antonovsky emphasize that individuals find the origin of health and well-being within themselves. He argued that humans naturally tend toward imbalance, illness, and suffering, losing the ability to self-reorganize over time. Therefore, health must be constantly re-created, as chaos and stress are natural conditions of life.
From this starting point, Antonovsky developed the first model to systematically explore health in terms of human development. He showed that the turning point in people’s health lies in their ability to build coherent and satisfying life experiences. To explain this, he defined key concepts that help us understand how we create health:
- General Resistance Resources (GRRs): These are biological, material, psychosocial, spiritual, and cultural factors. They make it easier for people to perceive their lives as coherent, structured, and understandable.
- Sense of Coherence (SOC): This is the ability to use GRRs, which Antonovsky defined as our developed capacity to trust in life. Working on the three dimensions of SOC strengthens our ability to face uncertainty and chaos, despite how much we like to believe we can control our lives.
The 3 Dimensions of SOC in Antonovsky’s Salutogenic Theory
The medical sociologist described how a well-developed Sense of Coherence gives people more opportunities to cope with life’s challenges. The way to strengthen SOC is by working on the following three dimensions:
- Comprehensibility: This is the cognitive dimension. It focuses on understanding what happens in our lives and helps us explain how events affect us.
- Manageability: This component allows us to know that we have resources (both internal and external) to meet the demands of these events.
- Meaningfulness: This is the motivational dimension. It allows us to find meaning and view these demands as challenges worthy of our effort and commitment. This dimension is gaining more prominence in the workplace.
By working on these three components, we strengthen our Sense of Coherence. As a result, we will be better prepared to maintain our health when facing life’s events.
Is There a Method to Implement Salutogénesis in the Workplace?
One thing must be clear: there are no shortcuts. You cannot start this journey and arrive directly at Salutogénesis. Implementing it requires a mindset shift and a strong integration of thought and action. To explain this necessary mindset shift, Antonovsky used the river metaphor. Like life, a river is full of risks and resources. However, the outcome depends on how we orient ourselves and learn from experiences. This helps us acquire the skills and values that improve our chances for better health and a better life.
It takes some time to orient yourself to these new coordinates. However, this could be one of the most meaningful actions you ever take to improve your results and satisfaction. Salutogénesis—the ability to trust in life and focus on what creates health—can be learned.
At WHI-Institute, we have named this path of mindset shift the LifeCourse Journey. It is a trip through the three dimensions of SOC combined with the Life Skills declared by the WHO. We believe that through it, you can learn, find meaning, and re-create your own life. We guarantee that once you get the hang of it, there is no turning back.
How Can I Introduce Salutogénesis Into My Daily Personal Life?
As you have seen, Salutogénesis has highly beneficial potential for our health. The challenge, as always, is to take action. We must gradually introduce it into our daily routines to turn it into a habit.
This is what we aim for in our courses. We currently offer an introduction to Salutogénesis. Do not miss the opportunity to expand your potential and prioritize your own health and life.
Have a great journey!
