Wellness Policy Series
Since its inception, the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) has embraced the vision of “empowering wellness worldwide.” Even as we study and advocate for the multi-trillion-dollar wellness economy, we also recognize that the private wellness market and consumer action alone cannot bring about wellness for all. Widespread adoption of preventive approaches and healthy lifestyles is essential if we are to address our mounting global health crises and spiraling economic costs. And yet, not everyone has the resources, motivation, knowledge, or enabling environment to do so. Public policy is essential to fill these gaps. This realization is the genesis of GWI Wellness Policy Series.
Who is the Wellness Policy Series for?
When we talk about policy, the implication is that we are speaking to governments, but this series is not just for government stakeholders. Policies to advance the cause of wellness for all require the attention, participation, and cooperation of public, private, and nonprofit/community stakeholders. In fact, the separate development streams and “siloes” across consumer/business wellness, public health systems, and preventive health/medicine have impeded us from making greater strides toward this goal.
GWI’s Wellness Policy Series was created to support anyone who would like to leverage policy as a tool to promote better human health and well-being. Whether you are a government leader, policymaker, public servant, private business, nonprofit, or concerned citizen, this report series will provide you with cross-cutting and actionable ideas that you can use to implement new policies, programs, partnerships, collaborations, and advocacy efforts to address gaps, meet the needs of different population groups, and expand access to wellness for all.
Wellness Policy Reports
The Wellness Policy Series is a compilation of nine reports, which aim to define wellness policy, articulate why it is needed, and provide a framework and set of strategies for implementing wellness policies across many domains of wellness.
2023 Health, Happiness, and the Wellness Economy: An Empirical Analysis
This report examines the nexus of wellness spending, health, and happiness, in a collaboration between GWI and a key author and statistician for the UN World Happiness Report. It is the first-ever global analysis of the statistical relationships between total and sector-level wellness economy spending and various measures of happiness and health outcomes. Based on the results of the statistical analyses, we explore the implications for the wellness economy and the scope for public policy actions.
2022 Defining Wellness Policy
The first-ever study to define wellness policy and argue for why it is needed, this report makes a compelling case for why wellness policy is essential not only for governments but also for businesses. This report is the first release in GWI’s Wellness Policy Series.
Wellness Policy Toolkits
The Wellness Policy Toolkits address seven domains of wellness: physical activity, healthy eating, mental wellness, traditional and complementary medicine, wellness in the built environment, wellness at work, and wellness in tourism. Each toolkit explores both the why and how of wellness policy: What is the rationale and need for wellness policy action in each domain? How can stakeholders (governments, businesses, communities, nonprofits) take action to address important issues and gaps? Note: The toolkits will be released individually during 2023-2025.
2024 Wellness Policy Toolkit: Mental Wellness
The third of seven toolkits in GWI’s Wellness Policy Series, this report presents mental wellness as a coherent domain of wellness policy that is separate from, and complementary to, mental health policy. It explores key challenges to our mental wellness, explains why we need to promote mental wellness, and offers specific policy actions that stakeholders can pursue to support all populations.
2024 Wellness Policy Toolkit: Wellness In Tourism
The second of seven toolkits in GWI’s Wellness Policy Series, this report introduces a new paradigm for wellness in tourism. It identifies six key barriers that are currently preventing wellness tourism from delivering broad-based health and well-being benefits. It then presents policy ideas that help everyone – from visitors to local residents to businesses – reap more benefits from tourism.
2023 Wellness Policy Toolkit: Physical Activity
The first of seven toolkits in GWI’s Wellness Policy Series, this report explores key barriers driving physical inactivity, and it presents six areas of policy action, where new policies, government resources, and public-private partnerships can address gaps and expand physical activity participation and access.
About the Global Wellness Institute Wellness Economy Research
The Global Wellness Institute is the first and only organization to conduct comprehensive, objective, and global research on the wellness industry. GWI strives to be the go-to resource for those seeking to understand how wellness has become a driving force in today’s global economy. Thanks to the generous support of philanthropic partners along with corporate and individual donors, GWI research is available free to the public as part of our mission to empower wellness worldwide.
Please note that all reports are the property of the Global Wellness Institute. Quotation of, citation from, and reference to any of the data, findings and research methodology from the reports must be credited to the Global Wellness Institute. To obtain permission for copying and reproduction, please contact the Global Wellness Institute by email at [email protected].
