Social Prescribing to Promote Mental Wellbeing By Tonia Callender, GWI research fellow Pay for a medical prescription or take an art class? Instead of using traditional medications, health service providers in over 30 countries are prescribing community engagement and recreational activities to alleviate various health symptoms and promote mental wellness..1 Originating in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, and now utilized in dozens of countries…
Touch grass: How Gen Z stopped going outside and why it matters––The Independent A new study reveals that most British young people stay indoors for days at a time, fueling the mass decline of mental health and the continuing rise of the age of rage. Two-thirds of Gen Z (67%) said they don’t go outside for days at a time; 57% of millennials reported the…
A large, long-term study from the Mayo Clinic, tracking 2,750 adults (aged 50 and over) for an average of five and a half years, found that chronic insomnia leads to changes in the brain that result in a much faster decline in memory and thinking. Chronic insomniacs were 40% more likely to develop cognitive impairment or dementia over the study period than people that got good…
How the Exposome and “Invisible Pollution” Impact Human Health––from Microplastics to PFAs By Thierry Malleret, economist THE EXPOSOME IMPACTING OUR WELLBEING: The UN Plastic Treaty talks that just took place in Geneva ended in failure, with petrostates (including the US) and petrochemical producers’ lobby preventing any agreement on the alarming issue of plastics in the environment. And this despite…
Wellness Policies That Help Older Populations Stay Active By Tonia Callender, GWI research fellow Whether it’s seniors hitting the dance floors in Belgium or Korea, older adult outdoor group exercise in China and Uganda, or senior gym programs in North America, more older adults are keeping physically active as they age. And yet, too many older adults have limited access to exercise facilities. What policies…
A 2025 study from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (on 85,000 predominantly Black and low-income participants) found that just 15 minutes of brisk walking daily were linked with a nearly 20% reduction in mortality. The positive effects of walking have been endlessly documented, but this research revealed that walking quickly delivers health benefits in a very short timeframe. Slow walking for more than three hours daily was…
