Global Wellness Institute

“Genetic Testing May Be Coming to Your Office” – The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 15, 2015

Some companies are now offering their employees free or subsidized tests for markers linked to metabolism, weight gain and overeating, with a few even offering subsidized tests for genetic mutations linked to breast and ovarian cancer. Naturally, employers tout genetic tests as a perk for their workforce, while health advocates raise concerns about privacy and the potential for illegal discrimination based on employees’ genetic information.

At the recent Global Wellness Summit, the GWI’s Sr. Research Fellows presented early findings from their in-depth research on the “Future of Wellness at Work” (full report coming 1/21/16). Key predictions: Workplace wellness will explode in the next decade, but the current “program mentality” (run by HR departments and not infused throughout the work culture) will die a natural death. Why? The “programmatic” approach is not working: If more than half of U.S. workers have a workplace wellness program, a cynical one in 10 actually thinks it improves their health.

One of the GWI’s Initiatives is around wellness communities, which are residential developments and even cities, master-planned for the health of their residents: from ample green space, to education, to interior air/water/light quality.

And at the recent Global Wellness Summit, this global group (led by Initiative Chair Mia Kyricos) analyzed how this real estate category is growing fast. Just two new examples: Mayo Clinic’s 20-year project to turn Rochester, Minn., into a total “City of Health” and a Delos Living project transforming part of Tampa City, Fla., into a 40-acre healthy city.

Experts at the GWI’s roundtable on “Redefining Workplace Wellness” agreed that it was astounding how little attention has been paid to designing workspaces that actually support human health and productivity – with so many big companies still housing their employees in unhealthy spaces. The future? An intensified focus on natural light, healthy air, worker privacy and comfort, and even biophilic design – and more private-public initiatives that tackle air quality in increasingly smog-choked, big cities.

Economist Malleret recently stated that the unprecedented way the world is aging is, “the single greatest problem of the 21st century.” Here he analyzes how Japan may be the case study to watch: with a quarter of the population over 65 and with one in 17 Japanese people expected to suffer from dementia within the next decade. The nation is (and will be) a prime example of how the costs of aging transform economies, and how we must create populations that are both old AND well.