Global Wellness Summit 2018 – Day 2

Day two started out with an amazing and wonderful presentation by Andrea Illy, owner of Illy Coffee. I was looking forward to his presentation because I am a coffee lover. After all I do live in Melbourne and we have earned a reputation of being the world’s biggest coffee snobs. But, before you laugh too hard, the coffee culture in Melbourne is extraordinary and we do have great coffee.

He opened by discussing the scientific literature on coffee and stated that two years ago, the IARC (International Agency on Research on Cancer) classified coffee as non carcinogenic. He showed a number of published articles from The American Cancer Society, The European Food Safety Authority and the British Journal of Medicine declaring that coffee is rich in anti-oxidants and carries preventative qualities.

He also stated that not once in 25,000 published articles has any researcher proven coffee to be addictive.

He then quipped, “And it has no calories, especially if you choose good coffee and choose to not pollute it with milk and sugar.” I enjoyed that, being a drinker of straight, untarnished espresso.

He also revealed that it is a powerful antidepressant and aids with inspiration. For centuries, it has been the beverage of culture as artists and writers have been fueled by coffee.

He also talked about coffee culture being at the centre of social connection and lauded it’s role in bringing people together to connect and socialize.

He shared that there are over 1000 aromas and that he believed Italian Espresso made coffee great. Italian Espresso has been at the core of the coffee revolutions in the US, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries.

But he said it is also a powerful agent of sustainability. It is a product consumed largely in rich countries and produced by poor countries. He said the three Virtues of Coffee are:

• Sensorial Pleasure
• Health
• Sustainability

Regarding Sensorial Pleasure, he shared how coffee is becoming like wine with all of the different blends being explored.

He shared that 50 years ago, coffee production was the source of things like deforestation, abuse, slavery and even wars. The price of coffee is still anchored in commodity prices, and when the price is low it becomes a real problem for some countries.

He also shared that in some countries, climate change is a huge problem. Their production window is tight and environmental factors can kill their production.

Andrea had a Marketing consultant work on the company’s branding and they came back with “Live Hap=illy” They were excited, and he said he wanted to contemplate it. He said he must be a responsible. Live Happily had to mean everyone in the chain.

He said that we need to tear down the invisible wall that is the Equator, between the producer countries and the consumer countries. If this is done responsibly, we can bring 25 million people out of poverty. There is great responsibility in Altruism and we cannot afford to squeeze people.

He said he felt that the share market model is based on greed. But he did not have to go the same way and place attention on all stake holders. He shared that he felt coffee was a great opportunity to make a difference in changing the lives of producers. If we put a smile on the face of the producers, we will put a smile on the face of consumers.

So Illy decided to buy directly from the producers and not the traders, and agreed to pay a premium price for their product.

They also created a University of Coffee providing courses ranging from a half day course right through to a Masters in Coffee Economy and Science.

They also give out two awards annually. One is given by a panel of 10 Connoisseurs and the other is a popular choice based on 1500 tastings. This year’s winner of both awards was a lady in Rwanda whom Illy helped to get started several years ago.

They also created a deal with the Farc dissident fighters in Columbia and supported them to become coffee producers.

Andrea shared that he takes great responsibility for what they do. When he was born, the world population is half what it is now. Resources must be cared for. He said that the environmental damage must be addressed. It is urgent that we go renewable.

Further, he felt that the refugee crisis needs to be addressed with economic development in the places the refugees originate. We must move from resource exhaustion to resource regeneration.

From my own perspective, I have never believed the negative hype about coffee. But, I do feel the “process” that you see around coffee in a more traditional sense is abused in modern societies. Coffee was always used to aide connection or during a time of quiet contemplation. It was nit gulped down, 8 cups a day (of in the case of one of my clients, 29 cups a day) sitting in front of a computer. Many of us are using coffee where we should be using water or herbal teas.

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We then heard from a wonderful lady who goes by the name of Clodagh. She is a Hotel and Spa Industry veteran of design. She gave a marvelous visual show of some of her work. She starts with the four C’s.

Contemplate – Where did we come from? Where are we? Where do we want to go?

• Cleanse
• Clarify – What’s going to make you happy.
• Create

She employs the five elements of Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Wood and Metal and appeals to all of the 6 senses.

She talked of Biogeometry and how shape effects energy. She also talked of Chromotherapy (Color) and Aromatherapy (Smell) and how she uses them effectively to create nurturing spaces.

She talked about how important it is with kids to create spaces that allow expression and all the kids to explore new things, overcome their fears and grow their own self esteem.

She said that horses locked in a stable for 2 days go crazy for a time when they are allowed out. Kids can be the same.

She talked of the beauty of a heavy door that swings open easily. It creates a feel.

She shared that in your home or workplace, every room is a living room. There needs to be quiet spaces that create an atmosphere for reflection and contemplation.

She also shared about clutter and the things we accumulate. She quoted an old saying “You will never see a U-Haul following a hearse.

She said that the Egyptians believed, when they died and faced their maker, they were to be asked two questions. Did you Find Joy? Did you Bring Joy?

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Then we heard from Mark Britnell from KPMG, a World-wide expert in Health Care Systems and former Head of The British Health Service.

He has been consulting to Health Care Systems all over the world. At 42, he had prostate cancer and moved away from a role within the system to a role where he could try to help the systems get better.

He was telling us that if they were able to reduce staff turnover in the NHS, each hospital would have saved $1 million pounds. HE also told us that by 2030, there will be a 21% shortfall in worldwide health care workforce, that equals 18 million people. Even if we started comprehensive training programs now, we would not fix the problem in time.

A rising incidence of Non-Communicable Diseases NCD’s is driving demand in health care services globally. Whilst many or even most of these are preventable, their incidence is rising at an alarming rate. An average of 10.4% of GDP is spent on Healthcare Globally. Healthcare Costs are over $US9 trillion globally and have outstripped growth in GDP for several years.

There is little success in most campaigns to reduce NCD’s because most campaigns are Public Health Organisations talking to each other. Little is being done to create effective programs to create sustained change.

One great example occurred in the Nordic Countries where an effort was commenced in 1987 to bring smoking down by 2% per year. Their success is believed to be due to them getting all the players, national and regional, on the same team and working together for a common outcome.

An interesting statistic. 80% of the World’s Workforce is in Private Enterprise and 20% public.

Mark has spent 30 years working on how the private sector can play a role in influencing employee wellness. He sees this as a major responsibility, not just paying for health care but actually running programs that create change.

Another interesting statistic. Africa has 25% of the world’s disease burden, yet only 4% of the world/s healthcare workforce. As a result, they have had to become very good at educating and empowering communities and individuals so that a person can be cared for at home. This initiative has helped reduce costs by 21%.

He reported that Mental Health Problems is the single largest cause factor in Absenteeism in the world.

Israel has a great system in place where they use predictive data to see who is at risk of illness. An SMS goes out to health workers and they go and visit the person.

He gave us a slide of the various solutions to the same health care problems across many different countries.

1.      Prevention and Promotion across Private and Public Sectors

2.      Population and Patient Segmentation and Stratification

3.      Scaled-up Primary Care

4.      Centralised and Localised Clinical Services

5.      Clinical Pathways supported by Improved Science

6.      Workforce Development and Motivation

7.      Hospitals as Health Systems

8.      Medical Home as a Hub for Care

9.      Community Based Mental Health Services

10.  Patients as Partners and Facilitating Home based Dignified Death

He said that the fundamental problem is that almost no funds go into number 1 and 75% of funds go into number 7.

He went on to say that about 40% of countries had Universal Healthcare and that when Obama created universal healthcare in the US, nearly 1.5 million more people were employed.

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We then heard from Nicola de Cesare and Fabrizzio Cecchinelli talking about Connected Wellness - Generation CX.

They proposed that people are not so much as they are looking for experiences and digital connection can create new and exciting experiences.

Apple, Google, Microsoft have all seta. Standard and consumers now demand that standard. When we offer digital, it has to meet with that expectation. Brining Wellness Digital means that there are a lot of touch points that can be brought together, storing data, giving feedback and tracking progress.

The presenters quoted Steve Jobs saying that consumers want to feel unique so personalisation is the key.

“Your customers don’t care about yo u. They don’t care about your product or service. They care about themselves, their dreams, their goals. Now, they will care much more if you help them reach their goals. And to do that, you must understand their goals, as well as their needs and deepest desires.” Steve Jobs

75% of people are more likely to buy from a retailer who recognises them by name, recommends options based on past purchases, or knows their purchase history.

Some Interesting Data:

95% of people would value getting advice on exercise and helpful input about their fitness goals.

90% or people who do not workout with wearables will consider using them in the future.

89% of people would appreciate health and nutrition advice.

91% want a custom gym app that will help them keep track of fitness.

Technogym are exploring a seamless experience across the entire user journey from bookings and billing, to lifestyle management, tracking, assessment, scheduling and programming.

• They are doing this by creating powerful apps that bring together assessment data, programming, seamless integration with machines, biometric monitoring and integration with major 3rd party apps and wearables to create a complete user experience.

A community of Wellness participants offers an opportunity to develop and grow the technology. They give user feedback on their experiences.

Through this digital connection we can build trust with customers and in return they develop greater loyalty via their engagement, give referrals by inviting their friends and associates in and can be more easily supported.

The digital platform can also be the collection and dissipation point for content.

The platform must ignite people’s passion, because people will come together more around a. Shared passion than simply around a technology.

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The next presentation I attended was by Neuroscientist of Architecture, Dr Anjan Chatterjee. I should note here that during some time slots, there were 3 or 4 different presentations and I had to choose one. So I cannot relate to the reader what the other sessions were like or about the messages they shared.

Regarding Dr Chatterjee’s area of expertise, I have to be the first to admit I am not an artistic type of person. I love art and music but don’t have much of a talent for creating either. So when I listened to his lecture, some of the information I could take in Intellectually but couldn’t full grasp.

He talked about Architecture and The Experience of Architecture. I got that piece. I know that some rooms, some buildings, when you walk into them they feel good. You can’t really explain why. He mentioned this as are area of study since Virtruvias in the 1st century BC.

From Google: Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (/v??tru?vi?s ?p?lio?/; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC), commonly known as Vitruvius, was a Roman author, architect, civil engineer and military engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled De architectura.

He shared how some architects have a deep understanding of how space impacts human experience and how it appeals to touch, sight, smell and sound perceptions and how they make us feel. Do they speed us up or slow us down.

He cited studies and showed a few slides that didn’t really stay on the screen long enough to grasp what was being demonstrated, but a study of 800 people involving subjects responding to images being placed in different dimensions and then tabulating the results. A pattern emerged showing that people either felt a space had a coherence or created fascination and inspiration or hominess. In the middle was a quality called Valence, which basically indicates if the space makes you feel good or not.

It appears from this and other studies that there is almost a hard wiring in the brain for various human preferences for spaces.

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Quotation on the Wall behind the Coffee Machines at Technogym

• Wellness is being more efficient at work.
• Wellness is having more vitality later in life.
• Wellness is more energy.
• Wellness is feeling happier with yourself and others.

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We then heard from Professor Jan Emmanuel de Neve, Professor of Economics at Oxford University. He is a cool young guy with a really interesting and modern outlook. He was discussing “The Business Case for Wellness and Wellbeing.”

He talked of Global Trends for Wellness and showed an incredible world map showing all the areas shaded in according to the level of positive experience people in each region have in their lives. It seems places like Sweden, Iceland, Canada, Turkey, Indonesia, New Zealand and a couple of spots in Africa and South America are faring best.

He then showed us a graph that clearly shows the positive experience index in decline since 2015 and returning to the levels of the GFC, whilst the negative experience index is now at an all time high.

In looking at Happiness at work, he showed a graph revealing that only the combined former Soviet countries, South East Asia, Latin America, and North America, Australia and New Zealand were a greater percentage of people engaged than disengaged.

Twelve factors were identified as having an impact on happiness at work. They were:

• Pay
• Working Hours
• Working Hours Mismatch
• Work-Life Imbalance
• Skills Match
• Job Security
• Difficulty, stress, Danger
• Opportunities for Advancement
• Independence
• Interesting Job
• Interpersonal Relationships
• Usefulness

The two most significant factors that were deemed to drive satisfaction were Interesting Job and Inter-personal relationships.

Subjects in a study were asked to choose a South Park Character as their identity for a “game” Each is then given a salary that is very much out of alignment with other characters, some significantly. As the game progressed, there were negative changes to wellbeing, a change toward more negative feelings and an associated drop in productivity.

Another study examined 5000 people over 20 call centres. People were monitored daily. At the end of the study, the results revealed that raising employee wellbeing raises productivity by 7 to 12%.

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We then heard from Kenneth Pelletier, PhD MD. Clinical Professor of Medicine, Professor of Public Health and USCF Medical School.

Ken has presented a couple of times at Global Wellness Summits and his work revolves around Gene Expression.

He described the genes as the architectural drawings of a house. The blood and physical is the resulting house and the natural environment around the house is the microbiome.

Whilst we are born with a genetic make-up, how those genes are expressed determines where we end up and what we eventually experience.

Genetic Diseases normally show up in the first 9 months of life.

We are the same person we were when we were born in a genetic sense. But epigenetically, we are completely different.

He talked of the activity of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, common genetic variants. These SNP’s act as a rheostat to express or suppress genetic predisposition. They are influenced by diet, stress, radiation, physical and psychosocial environment, stress and sense of purpose, Whilst 3 million of these SNP’s have been identified, it is estimated that there are over 10 million in the human genome.

Their studies showed that Genes are stable unless there is a specific intervention that alters them.

Changes can be made in the expression of these genes by actionable, modifiable, self-care lifestyle interventions.

Changes can be detected in a maximum time frame of 10-12 weeks although many change in a matter of hours or days.

Such tests are commercially available.

Among the main pillars of optimal health are Inflammation, both acute and chronic, Oxidative Stress, Detoxification, Lipid Metabolism (which is governed by genetic expression) and Mineral Metabolism.

The challenge with diets like Ketogenics is that some people metabolise fat very well and others do not. This is an interesting point because although I have given it a good try a couple of times, when I go onto a ketogenic diet, I put on wait and feel sluggish and tired. But on a low-fat high-carb diet, body fat falls off and my energy levels go through the roof.

When it comes to longevity, Genes predict probabilities, not certainties. Gene Expression changes with changes in lifestyle, attitudes and outlooks.

Here is a key point: The Majority of Genes are governed by Beliefs and Lifestyle Choices.

This is such a profound point because most people are not really aware of what they believe. The contemplate what they think they should believe or what they want to believe, but this may be light years away from what they genuinely believe. A fine example is a kid who hears that women live longer than men. He interprets it that men die young. He decides that believe must be true and takes it on and eventually forgets that he chose to believe it. It is now an extreme probability that he will create a way to die young.

This is an area that I believe Wellness Professionals are ignoring – helping their clients explore their own belief systems, especially those beliefs that are completely transparent to them.

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We were then treated to something so special. One of the conference Chairs, Mia Kyricos, Global Head of Wellbeing for Hyatt Hotels, interviews the wonderful Mindy Grossman, President and CEO of Weight Watchers International. And Mindy brought Oprah with her.

This was such a revealing session. Mindy is an inspiring leader and an open book.

She talked first about their re-branding from Weight Watchers to WW, which stands for Wellness Works. They are really evolving by exploring I feel.

One of their main moves was to re-evaluate the foods carrying their brand and realised many had a lot of salt, sugar, artificial substances and many were highly processed. After establishing a criteria, they removed 70% of the foods from their range.

Each week they have 30,000 workshops around the world, attended by an average of 1.5 million members. And, it is all about wellness. Their App goes out to about 4.8 million people.

As they expand, WW is looking for new partners to help get the word out. They want to use their platform to get the word out to the masses. They want to run Free Wellness Fairs in Cities, and next year plan to run at least 100.

When asked what sort of impact Oprah’s investment in the company had, Mindy said “Let’s ask Oprah”. Immediately Oprah was on the screen telling us she would have loved to come to GWS 2018 but couldn’t. Her passion for the entire enterprise and its mission flowed from her heart.

These are powerful, open hearted women who have decided to create change for good in the world. I could feel that in essence, they do not have a clearly defined product. They are stepping into a bit of an unknown to learn what is available and what is needed. Feels like a good time to pitch your ideas to them. #Technogym

What a great way to end Day 2.

#fatigueprevention #fatigueprofessor #wideawake #wideawakeapp #johntoomey #globalwellness #GWS2018