The time has come for Healthcare and Wellness to merge. That is the message from a Wellness Scientist and Researcher during a recent webinar from the Global Wellness Institute, the premier location for all things about the science of wellness. https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/ Of course I was even more than inspired that I had selected the correct profession for me to fit in.
Even before I graduated from Nursing School I had the feeling that being a typical bedside nurse was not a fit for me. I always felt that taking care of illnesses that could have been prevented was not the best way to use my talents of wanting to keep people healthy so they would not succumb to disease. And so I entered the budding (at the time) world of wellness and never looked back. I will admit it was a steady climb uphill all these years until now, when you see wellness everywhere and on everything.
And then COVID hit. And wellness started taking center stage because those who were more well were not as at risk as those who were not. Wellness has become the Big Pharma alternative because of the limitations of the current healthcare system we all thought would save us. Now the real challenge for wellness is to go to a deeper level and not just be a word on a label or a program.
Beth McGroarty shared the Wellness Trends for 2021 and revealed how wellness is now becoming embedded in our society in very interesting ways. https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/archive/beth-mcgroarty/
Here are some take-aways from her indepth investigations of trends.
The COVID Trauma has revealed:
· The value of wellness as a preventive tool
· Human cost of sickness and chronic disease
· Healthcare and wellness need to merge and serve all people
· Healthcare needs to change image from cold and sterile and only for those that have the means
· Wellness needs to be more scientific and less trendy
· The tone of wellness needs to shift
o Less trendy
o More inclusive
o Accessible
o Affordable
o Evidence based
Stress management
· New focus on emotion due to COVID
· Personal mood trackers increased
· Need for emotional support from love, empathy, hospitality
· Prepare for massive treatment for PTSD of front-line workers
Nature is therapeutic
· Medical benefits
· Mental and physical therapy
· Climate crisis has nature front and center
· Social distancing is easily implemented outside
Wellness Travel becoming more popular
· Natural beauty destinations
· Purposeful and meaningful
· Consciousness of over-tourism
· Mindful slower pace
· Human powered (bikes, kayak, etc)
· Concern for safety
Personal immunity needs to be supported
· Supplements
· Super foods
· Gut health
· Personal health practices
· https://www.littmanlab.org/ Microbiota and Human Disease
Gut Microbiome has a powerful role over health
· Taking center stage
· Poor gut health leads to poor health, infection, death
· NIH studying microbiome and how we process food https://commonfund.nih.gov/hmp
· 70% of immunity starts in the gut
Personalized Nutrition can aide healing
· Critical to our health
· Food as medicine
· Not all foods affect everyone the same way
· https://drpelletier.com/ Change your genes, change your life
Hollywood influence and Wellness
· More platforms providing wellness information
· CALM and HEADSPACE for relaxation have made so much money they are funding TV shows and new formats https://www.businessofapps.com/data/headspace-statistics/
· Apple and Sampson have more platforms doing personalized wellness programs
· Health wearables are being connected to TV
Music as Therapy
· Very popular during pandemic to heal emotions
· Soundscapes, sleep, stress management
· Big tech and big media need to collaborate with health practitioners
· Check out the multiple Ted Talks such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGnWyS2Y4r8
Rise of Financial Wellness
· New openness to effect on health
· Mindless consumerism has changed
· Relationship of money to stress and shame
· Increase of financial coaches, therapists
· New banks and apps
Spirituality and Wellness
· Spirituality and consciousness are always the most popular area of Wellness
· Decline in church attendance
· Closing of churches due to COVID
Hopefully this overview of 2021 trends will help you see where we are heading with healthcare and wellness and give you ideas of how you can affect change in your personal sphere.
If you would like to learn how to create your own “wellness business”, contact me.
carol@carolebert.com www.carolebert.com 507-313-4515