This is a guest post from Sharon Mandler, Sr. Digital Startegist at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness. You can follow her on twitter @sharonmandler or @Saatchiwellness.
We’re at a tipping point for the health and wellness industry. We’re about to see a massive change where more and more people are seizing their health and wellness. They’re becoming aware of their own health data and what that means, taking charge of their health records, and moving from info seekers to seekers and advisors.
There’s a proliferation of what we call “peer to peer healthcare” where people are reaching out to others just like them to ask questions about conditions and treatments; and people just like them are answering and sharing their experiences. We see a growing amount of interaction in patient communities, in forum discussions about prescription drugs and in online conversations about cosmeceuticals.
This is a movement of compassion.
Ultimately this is a very good thing. We know that by sharing and passing on information we’re accelerating the pace at which truths and innovations come to light. This means that through social technologies, we’re helping one another live better, healthier lives. It also means that the role of brands and brand marketing in this category is changing.
At Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, we work with our clients to help them understand and own their roles in this exciting new world of health and wellness. Our goal as an agency is to motivate and educate people to improve their total well-being. To us, working with Social Media Week and Luminary Labs to host the first Health & Wellness hub is the natural next step to extend the conversations that will help us all live better lives.
We invite you to join us at the Health & Wellness hub to explore and collaborate, crowdsource and engage.
We’ll kick things off on Monday with a fireside chat about The Creative Social Revolution in health and wellness between Helayne Spivak, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness’s Chief Creative Officer, and Mashable’s Chief Operating Officer, Sharon Feder. On Tuesday, join us for a keynote from Frank Moss about MIT’s 2012 Health and Wellness Innovation Hackathon; later in the week we’ll crowdsource guidelines for the FDA in social media and conduct a group experiment on willpower.
Until then, be well.
SM