Building the ‘wellbeing economy’ for the benefit of all

Lancashire businesses have a major role to play in building the ‘wellbeing economy’ that will benefit everyone in the county in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

That was the rallying call from Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, the county’s director of public health, speaking at the 2021 Lancashire Health and Wellbeing Conference.

He told delegates that bringing together the health and wealth creation agendas had the potential to make a major difference in the county.

Dr Karunanithi said the pandemic had impacted Lancashire and other parts of the North harder than other areas of the country and had highlighted the inequalities that existed in communities.

It has also “magnified” the need for those involved in health and in wealth creation to really work together. Dr Karunanithi spoke of a true partnership approach involving business, community, and health leaders.

He highlighted Burnley as an example of a community that had great “potential and opportunity” but also some of the worst health outcomes in the country.

And he said that it was vital for the government to recognise the real links between the economic and health agendas, with poor health costing the economy billions of pounds each year.

Businesses also had to recognise the importance of their workforce’s wellbeing and the impact that had on performance. Wellbeing had to be more than a health and safety box ticking exercise.