Do Spa Visits Improve Health: Evidence From German Micro Data

Klick, Jonathan; Stratmann, Thomas

doi:10.1057/palgrave.eej.9050038

Cited by 13 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The conclusions are mostly in favour of spa treatments; however, due to the large variety of interventions, the results are still mostly inconclusive. The same applies to studies on cost-effectiveness (Van Tubergen et al 2002;Brefel-Courbon et al 2003;Fioravanti et al 2003;Epps et al 2005;Zijlstra et al 2007;Klick and Stratmann 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

A proposal for a worldwide definition of health resort medicine, balneology, medical hydrology and climatology

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Health Resort Medicine, Balneology, Medical Hydrology and Climatology are not fully recognised as independent medical specialties at a global international level. Analysing the reasons, we can identify both external (from outside the field) and internal (from inside the field) factors. External arguments include, e.g. the lack of scientific evidence, the fact that Balneotherapy and Climatotherapy is not used in all countries, and the fact that Health Resort Medicine, Balneology, Medical Hydrology and Climatology focus only on single methods and do not have a comprehensive concept. Implicit barriers are the lack of international accepted terms in the field, the restriction of being allowed to practice the activities only in specific settings, and the trend to use Balneotherapy mainly for wellness concepts. Especially the implicit barriers should be subject to intense discussions among scientists and specialists. This paper suggests one option to tackle the problem of implicit barriers by making a proposal for a structure and description of the medical field, and to provide some commonly acceptable descriptions of content and terminology. The medical area can be defined as "medicine in health resorts" (or "health resort medicine"). Health resort medicine includes "all medical activities originated and derived in health resorts based on scientific evidence aiming at health promotion, prevention, therapy and rehabilitation". Core elements of health resort interventions in health resorts are balneotherapy, hydrotherapy, and climatotherapy. Health resort medicine can be used for health promotion, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. The use of natural mineral waters, gases and peloids in many countries is called balneotherapy, but other (equivalent) terms exist. Substances used for balneotherapy are medical mineral waters, medical peloids, and natural gases (bathing, drinking, inhalation, etc.). The use of plain water (tap water) for therapy is called hydrotherapy, and the use of climatic factors for therapy is called climatotherapy. Reflecting the effects of health resort medicine, it is important to take other environmental factors into account. These can be classified within the framework of the ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health). Examples include receiving health care by specialised doctors, being well educated (ICF-domain: e355), having an environment supporting social contacts (family, peer groups) (cf. ICF-domains: d740, d760), facilities for recreation, cultural activities, leisure and sports (cf. ICF-domain: d920), access to a health-promoting atmosphere and an environment close to nature (cf. ICF-domain: e210). The scientific field dealing with health resort medicine is called health resort sciences. It includes the medical sciences, psychology, social sciences, technical sciences, chemistry, physics, geography, jurisprudence, etc. Finally, this paper proposes a systematic international discussion of descriptions in the field of Health Resort Medicine, Balneology, M...

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 78%

A proposal for a worldwide definition of health resort medicine, balneology, medical hydrology and climatology

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…After controlling for individual fixed effects, this study found significant benefits from residential spa treatments in terms of lost workdays and the number of days in a hospital, leading the authors to suggest that public and private insurers may benefit from providing access to such services. 43 While Germany and some parts of Europe include retreat-type experiences within their health system, retreat facilities in most countries sit outside the mainstream health system and retreat participation is not supported by insurance cover or tax incentives. Thus, wellness industry stakeholders around the world have expressed concern that health insurers do not recognize the importance of wellness retreats or the complementary and alternative therapies that they offer, despite the need for lifestyle-based interventions to quell the tide of chronic disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Cohen

Elliott

Oates

et al. 2017

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract