Making wellbeing a policy priority: lessons from the 2021 World Happiness Report–The Brookings Institution, April 6, 2021 Every year, the World Happiness Report tracks individual life satisfaction and the emotional “temperature” of societies around the world. In the new report, three lessons stand out for improving societal wellbeing and sustainable economies (the two go hand-in-hand): (1) Mental health has declined—especially among the most vulnerable; (2)…
There are numerous pathways to mental wellness, many of which are known to us but often seem like an impossible to-do list. In GWI’s report Defining the Mental Wellness Economy, we segment them into four broad categories: 1) activity and creativity, 2) growth and nourishment, 3) rest and rejuvenation, and 4) connection and meaning. These domains have mind-body and internal-external dimensions, although their boundaries may…
The pandemic as a wake-up call for personal health–New York Times, March 10, 2021 An important reflection on what the pandemic has taught us about the cost of our failure to focus on preventative health, diet and exercise, and combatting obesity—and the “misguided reliance on medicine to patch up…our self-inflicted wounds.” With obesity the second leading risk factor for death from COVID-19 (behind age), and…
Defining Mental Wellness Mental wellness is a term that is increasingly used in the popular lexicon, but it is vague and not well-understood. People associate mental wellness with many different types of activities: meditating, listening to music, talking to a friend, taking a walk in nature, taking a vacation, getting a massage, taking a bubble bath, squeezing a stress ball, or just carving out some…
With all the challenges of the last year, the mindset of the economic profession has shifted, with a flurry of research papers pointing to the vital importance of social capital. Notions like trust, state capacity, community-building, social cohesion, and social values like empathy and altruism are now seen as a prerequisite for prosperity and welfare. All these social values and other notions pertaining to social…
Traveling With a Purpose: For Some, It’s a 2021 Resolution – New York Times, January 21, 2021 The crises of 2020, particularly the pandemic and violence against Black Americans, have caused many travelers to rethink how and where to travel. Rather than taking luxury spa trips or sun-and-fun cruises, many are seeking to put more meaning into their future travels, either through a personal challenge…
