COVID-19 is forcing us to see our homes, neighborhoods and our built environment in a new light. We know that COVID hospitalization and death risks are highly correlated with where we live and the corresponding socioeconomic conditions. Our homes may normally be sanctuaries where we can relax, sleep or entertain, but now they have also become our primary places of work, study, play, exercise, creativity…
The timing of the “end of COVID” will be a determining factor in the strength of the recovery. In the UK, the OECD country whose vaccine rollout is so far the most advanced, the Prime Minister’s roadmap expresses the hope that if all goes to plan, June will see a “return to normal.” For reasons on which we expand in our recent book, COVID-19: The…
At its essence, physical activity is about movement. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines physical activity as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure – including activities undertaken while working, playing, carrying out household chores, travelling, and engaging in recreational pursuit.” The benefits of physical activity are varied, widely proven, and well-known, including: preventing chronic disease, reducing stress, managing weight, strengthening…
For reasons that we’ve expanded on in the past, the pandemic has given fresh impetus to the necessity of implementing broader and deeper wellbeing policies. This is particularly evident in the domain of air pollution as new evidence accrues, suggesting that the situation is worse than we thought. According to a new report, burning fossil fuels causes nearly one in five of all deaths worldwide—a…
An interesting new study from Brown University dispels any myth that positive outcomes from mindfulness-based meditation come exclusively from the practice because the more active ingredient seems to be the social factor of the instructor and the group. It’s one of the first studies to look at the role of relationships in meditation programs, and the person-to-person factors led to a more positive impact on…
A new initiative to raise funds to support The Wellness Moonshot: A World Free of Preventable Disease has successfully launched with an initial donation of $100,000 from the Richard P. Woltman family. GWI Board of Director Richard P. Woltman, who is chair emeritus of Girard Securities Inc. and a financial industry leader and philanthropist committed to the health and sciences industry, will also act as fundraising…
