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The Evolution of Wellness Leadership: Integrating Awareness Intelligence to Cultivate Human-Centered Wellness Organizations

Seow Koon Khor
Journal of Educational Development and Social Sciences, (2026), Vol.1, No.5, pp.33-41
Published: October 19, 2026
DOI: 10.62051/jedss.v1n5.05
PDF: Download Full Text PDF
Abstract

Workplace wellness initiatives require managerial processes that connect employees’ health needs with everyday working conditions. This study developed a human-centered wellness leadership framework that integrates awareness intelligence, defined as the capacity to recognize health signals, interpret their contextual causes, and revise managerial decisions. Publicly available aggregate data from the American Psychological Association’s 2025 and 2026 workplace surveys were analyzed using year-on-year and subgroup comparisons. The results showed that positive workplace health ratings and feelings of being valued declined, while reported work-related harm to mental health and concerns regarding near-term job loss increased. Higher psychological capital was also associated with more favorable workplace experiences. Drawing on these findings, this study proposes a recognition–voice–work adjustment–review process for translating health needs into organizational action. This study contributes to wellness leadership theory by distinguishing the recognition of health needs from organizational responses and specifying how employee voice, managerial authority, and feedback may connect health awareness to improvements in working conditions.

Keywords: Wellness leadership, Awareness intelligence, Health-oriented leadership, Psychological capital, Work design, Human-centered organizations
APA Citation: Seow Koon Khor (2026). The Evolution of Wellness Leadership: Integrating Awareness Intelligence to Cultivate Human-Centered Wellness Organizations. Journal of Educational Development and Social Sciences, 1(5), 33-41. https://doi.org/10.62051/jedss.v1n5.05

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