The GWI’s new report, “The Future of Wellness at Work,” forecasts the many profound ways that work will change in the future. Long-term, stable jobs (at set locations/hours) will give way to a virtual and “free agent” workforce that will be intensely multigenerational: By 2020, teens and employees over 70 will work side-by-side. The big shift comes from the fact that the Information Age will be succeeded by a “Wisdom” Age; as robots and Artificial Intelligence coopt many work tasks, human qualities not replicable by machines (collaboration, creativity, empathy, etc.) will be in high demand. And these are precisely the qualities that demand the highest level of mental and physical wellness.
With Workplace Wellness, Do Carrots or Sticks Work Better?
In the wake of the Global Wellness Institute’s recent report, a hot issue to watch is how workplace wellness programs are going to evolve in the foreseeable future. And a big question, and new research ponders, what works better – penalties or rewards – carrots or sticks? Do humans respond better to losses or gains?
Global Wellness Day Coming June 11
The second-annual Global Wellness Day, the brainchild of Belgin Aksoy (creative director, Richmond International), will be celebrated worldwide this year on June 11. This very special day, which brings together exercise, healthy eating and inner peace/happiness at a series of public events (at spas, hotels, fitness studios, public parks, etc.) recently became a GWI Initiative. Global Wellness Day was an amazing success in 2015, and will blossom further this year as its being celebrated in 100 countries at 1,000 locations with 70 official Ambassadors across all continents.
Wellness Evidence: What Kind of Exercise Builds the Most New Brain Cells?
A new study from the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland), performed on rats, had some provocative findings about what type of exercise drives the most new neurons (neurogenesis) in the brain. For the first time, scientists compared the effect on the brain of running, weight training (rats climbed walls with little weights attached to their tails) and high-intensity interval training (sprinting on little treadmills, slowing and repeating). A substance was injected in the rats’ brains to track the creation of new brain cells and the runners showed by far the most brain cell creation: their hippocampus teemed with new neurons, while the high-intensity interval training showed far fewer neurons created and the weight training showed no neurogenesis.
Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of March 9, 2016)
“Harvard Researchers Discovered the One Thing Everyone Needs for Happier, Healthier Lives”
– The Washington Post, March 2, 2016
(Hint: It’s close, intimate relationships)
Waldinger, a Harvard psychiatrist in charge of the Grant Study (it began in 1938 – the longest study of human development) presents its conclusion: the happiest and healthiest participants were the ones who maintained close, intimate relationships. It is that simple! By contrast, commercial projection of a good life – wealth, fame, career success – won’t bring health or happiness (contains a TED video presentation).
Surprising Findings from the new 2016 Future of Wellness At Work Research: “Programs” Will Give Way to Real Company “Caring” and Culture Change
On Feb. 17, at a very unique press event in Manhattan, the GWI released two related pieces of research on workplace wellness.
1) “The Future of Workplace Wellness” (an 80-page report) analyzes everything from the realities of the increasingly unhealthy, aging, stressed global workforce to the state of workplace wellness programs worldwide. The report includes predictions on how both work itself, and workplace wellness strategies, will change radically in the future.
