Wellness Business is Growing

19-10-2007
Feeling Great Gains Importance

Do you keep yourself in good shape? Are your eating habits healthy? Have you conducted wellness surveys at your workplace? If these questions sound familiar, you may have been dealing with the wellness business. It comprises a heterogeneous group of businesses catering to the wellbeing of individuals and societies and providing them with medical, health, sports and life style technologies and services.

Currently, Oulu is the hotspot for health care IT-systems, software, and sports technology products. Several of the world´s leading wellness companies have headquarters there. Polar Electro is the world´s best-known heart rate monitor brand, Innokas Medical has created a successful business in medical contract R&D, and the health care ICT company Mawell is rated on Deloitte´s rising stars listing as one of the world´s fastest growing companies. Mawell recently received 8 million euros from the CapMan Technology 2007 Fund.

Technology for health care

Rapid aging of populations and increasing incidences of chronic disease are forcing health care providers to make maximum use of new technologies in order to deal with future challenges. "The ongoing trends call for new solutions because there are simply not enough hands to do the work in the traditional way," says Tapio Tammi, a pioneer in the wellness business. “There are several good examples of how technology can significantly improve the caring process for the most common diseases, like diabetes. For instance, ProWellness provides modern methods to prevent and deal with diabetes."

Another good example is Whealth Ltd, which has developed a wireless hospital concept in co-operation with the Center for Wireless Communications, a unit of the University of Oulu, and other companies and service providers. Newtest Ltd has commercialized an exercise monitor that measures the increase in bone density and is currently commercializing unique research findings in the field of cholesterol-reducing exercise. Onlife Ltd concentrates on software that provides methods for achieving work-related mental and physical wellbeing.

Wellness creates business

"Nowadays people are more interested in their own wellbeing. Their employers have understood that people who feel well work more effectively. This realization has resulted in business opportunities," says Tapio Tammi. He has been following the wellness business since the 1980s, and was CEO of Polar Electro from 1985 to 1999 during a period of intense growth for the company.

One step in promoting wellness business growth was to establish a private foundation, the Oulu Wellness Institute, to develop the companies´ wellness business intelligence. The founders include 24 different organizations that are interested in finding wellness business opportunities or developing the operations of service providers. Tapio Tammi is chairman of the board of the Institute.

Prevention and encouragement

According to Tammi, wellbeing primarily means the promotion of health. At best it means that people take care of their mental and physical condition so that they won´t be affected by avoidable chronic diseases and can live their lives to the full. The wellbeing of employees is also critical for the success of organizations. Tapio Tammi says that action to improve and maintain both physical and mental wellbeing is essential.

“The key word is prevention. Illness is a tragedy for an individual, and besides, it costs society lots of money. Why should we get ill if we have the means to prevent illnesses?" asks Tammi.

 Oulu Wellness Institute