The new world has seen more and more people becoming aware of just how important it is to take care of themselves — physically and mentally.

Because PR professionals spend their days focused on their clients, it's important for them to take some time out to make sure they are aware of their own wellness. It’s also important that they’re mindful of these trends, as it impacts the way they conduct their work for their clients. The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) has recently provided some clarity on what people will start focusing on more.

On 28 January at a press event in New York, the GWS released a list of the top wellness trends for 2020. To build up this list, the GWS trends forecasting team speaks to countless professionals in different industries to draw up a clear conclusion of what trends will be most relevant during the year.

With that in mind, here are four of the trends in wellness that PR pros need to be aware of:

1. Baby Boomers make a comeback

Believe it or not, Baby Boomers are far from boring. They are no longer viewed as the older generation that sits around reading newspapers. Professionals from across all industries are taking note of how this generation makes use of technology and are active on multiple social media apps.

PR pros need to take this into account when putting together campaigns and writing press releases. While a lot of the content written nowadays is tailored towards younger generations, it’s important to be mindful of Baby Boomers as well.

For example, when creating content about technology, be mindful to not use memes in humorous content, as senior people may not understand all of them. Instead, be sure to create content that will make your entire audience feel represented.

It might be easy to disregard the Baby Boomers, but now is the time to take note of just how important they are and what an impact that actually has on all industries. They are still consumers and, therefore, they need to be included where relevant.

2. The importance of mental health

There is still a stigma surrounding mental health and how it should be treated in the working environment, but more people are starting to become aware of its importance, which means people’s attitudes are also changing.

In 2019, the World Health Organization declared “burnout” an official medical diagnosis, meaning that people can be booked off by a doctor if they are experiencing this at work. PR pros need to take this into account to ensure that the messages that they are sending out there are sensitive towards mental health. This is especially true because society has previously sent out the idea that working hard all the time is a must if you want to succeed.

In order to be a bit more sensitive to this topic, PR pros can encourage their clients to emphasise the importance of burnout and advise people on how to deal with it.

Additionally, different religions and cultures each have a different take on mental health, which is why it’s important for PR pros to ensure that they stitch together their messages to the public in such a way that will make everyone feel included.

For example, keep your press releases and messages diverse and relevant to different types of people, and don’t make someone feel weak for having to deal with a mental health issue. Instead, find ways to show that the client’s brand is there to support and help them.

3. The ‘always-on’ mindset has to go

It’s important to understand what is meant by the term ‘always on’ before we can take a look at why it’s important. People often take time off from work to relax and gather their thoughts, focusing on their mental health — but there is a catch: they take their devices with them to stay connected to work, or to be ‘always on’.

“The need to strike a balance between the pursuit of wellness and the need to work is the central concept of the wellness sabbatical,” says Susie Ellis, contributor for the GWS.

What this means is that, although work allows a person to take time for their mental health, they also expect you to be available when they need you. However, this just causes the person a lot more stress.

For example, employees that take time off from work to focus on important aspects of their health will generally take all of their devices with them because they need to stay connected with other colleagues, meaning that they won’t actually get the rest that they truly need.

By taking note of this trend, PR pros can create wellness content for their clients that shows that the brand the consumers are dealing with is human and cares about their audience. The PR pro can also do this by encouraging clients to share their company policies with their audience, ones that stipulate that they care about their employee’s mental health and well being.

4. The healing properties of music

Music has been part of the human journey since the beginning of time, and it has always been able to move and influence humans in an amazing way. Studies have shown how certain music pushes up your heart rate while other genres make a person more calm and collected.

People are constantly adding onto their playlist titled ‘feel good’ or ‘keep calm’ to help them cope with stressful situations that are thrown at them. PR professionals should take note of how important music is for consumers, as this will allow them to make use of the correct background music when hosting an online webinar, event or when creating a video for their client.

PR professionals can also encourage their client’s to make a playlist for their consumers where they can get free music that will help them relax.

What are some other wellness trends you think PR professionals need to take note of? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Speaking of trends, are you aware of these Five PR trends to look out for in 2020? If not, be sure to check them out.
*Image courtesy of Pixabay