The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) has published a trends report and a related blog pointing to a widening “wealth divide” between people who can, and can’t, afford to take advantage of an “elitist” wellness market that includes $4,000/night room rates at new wellness hotels, $75 million wellness condos, $200,000 cosmetic procedures, and a surge in private, expensive wellness social clubs. While the general population wants more accessible and affordable wellness, the economic fallout from the pandemic – where the rich got richer and the rest are facing an inflation crunch – has polarized the market, according to GWS.

With regard to senior living, the GWS report says the field has been “disrupted" because potential customers are healthier and more active than their cohorts in previous generations. “Today’s seniors don’t ‘feel old’ and don’t want to be defined by age, nor socially segregated by it. That’s why today’s age-segregated models of senior living communities are no longer cutting it with a new generation that doesn’t accept being put out to pasture upon retirement,” the report states. “The future is a retirement of the ‘senior living’ concept and a new focus on intentional intergenerationality.”

Also in the top-10 trends: "Wellness welcomes the metaverse." GWS says: “From virtual reality and augmented reality to merged reality and haptics, the coming wellness metaverse will create vast opportunities for each sector of the $4.4 trillion global wellness economy.” For more on the metaverse and wellness, stay tuned for "Demystifying the metaverse for health and wellness" in issue 5 of the Journal on Active Aging.

For a GWS blog on super-expensive wellness, click here

For an overview of trends from the GWS mid-year trends update, or to order the full report, click here