Trends
SUSIE ELIIS guillemotright.cap PRESIDENT guillemotright.cap SPA FINDER, INC.
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ith well-publicised medical studies reveal-
Heads up W
ing that when it comes to brains you’ve
got to ‘use them or lose them’, combined
with a huge, ageing baby boomer popula-
tion and Alzheimer’s disease rapidly spreading around the
globe, brain health is increasingly on people’s minds. So
it’s not surprising that spas are beginning to add of_f erings
A growing number of spas are introducing
relating to mental f_i tness or brain workouts that address
programmes to improve the functionality
the health of the brain, just as they have always helped
people develop healthy and f_i t bodies.
of the brain. Susie Ellis fi nds out why
In fact, ‘brain health’ and ‘mind gyms’ are two new
buzzwords in the spa and wellness arena, and diverse
operators should pay attention approaches are frequently showing up on spa menus and
literature. In its two.fittedzero.fittedzero.fittednine.fitted Trends Forecast SpaFinder (see ptwo.fitted)
named brain health programming one of the top emerging
trends. Much like the sleep health concept we identif_i ed
back in two.fittedzero.fittedzero.fittedsix.fitted (SBzero.fittedsix.fitted/four.fitted pseven.fittedtwo.fitted), the spa industry is just at the
cusp of a trend that will gather signif_i cant momentum
MIND SPA MENTAL FITNESS CENT- in the years to come, as brain health of_f erings not only
ER, FLORIDA
become a new source of business for existing spa estab-
lishments, but also continue to spawn specialised centres.
FUELLING THE TREND
Why this new cultural preoccupation with brain func-
tionality and health, and the related spa experimentation
in this area? You would only pose that question if you
were younger than the vast baby boomer population,
aged between four.fittedfive.fitted to six.fittedthree.fitted. Cognitive decline begins between
four.fittedzero.fitted and five.fittedzero.fitted years-old and this is a generation that wants
to live long and well – both mentally and physically. T_h e
world is also facing the possibility of an Alzheimer’s and
dementia pandemic. According to Alzheimer’s Disease
International, an estimated three.fittedzero.fitted million people globally are
now suf_f ering from Alzheimer’s or dementia. By two.fittedzero.fittedfive.fittedzero.fitted it’s
projected that this number will swell to more than one.fittedzero.fittedzero.fitted
million. Recent studies have revealed that people are more
fearful of getting Alzheimer’s than they are of having
heart disease, diabetes or strokes.
T_h e emerging arena of brain health doesn’t solely revolve
T_h e Mind Spa Mental Fitness Center in Florida has state-of-the-art around ageing or the aged: for instance, athletes train their
neurotechnology (above) and of_f ers various mental f_i tness programmes brains to improve performance. It’s not only scientists lead-
SpSPa BuA BUSINESS 4 2009SineSS 4 2009
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