Wellness in the NBWHP by being self-defined centers individuals' own needs, desires, capabilities, and norms. This centers wellness and therefore  moves health from being solely defined as a medically determined, and seemingly objective state of being to being viewed as an individual experience.

Self-Definition of Wellness and Well-being

The NBWHP's definition of health shows that the NBWHP believes that physical symptoms cannot be adequately treated unless mental, emotional and spiritual health is also addressed. While the NBWHP had self-help groups and programming focused on certain common physical health concerns for Black women - e.g. diabetes, hypertension, HIV/AIDS - it also addressed a wide variety of health and wellness topics.

How the NBWHP Holistically Approached Health

The NBWHP has never offered an explicit definition of wellness and well-being. However the pamphlet Black Women Helping Ourselves notes that self-help groups allow Black women to define wellness for themselves and have those definitions shaped by the larger social forces in their lives

University of Wisconsin - Madison

The National Black Women's Health Project defined health as "not merely the absence of illness, but the active promotion of physical, spiritual, mental and emotional wellness of this and future generations."

How the National Black Women's Health Project Defines Health

Schalk, Sami. Black Disability Politics, New York, USA: Duke University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478027003

Black Disability Politics

In 1948 the World Health Organization's (WHO) definition of health was that the WHO, "defines health positively, as complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely negatively as the absence of disease or infirmity."

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