The prevailing notion is that you can never be too healthy. Over the coming years, an increasing amount of personal and public resources will be spent on health and longevity; including regulation and awareness campaigns that will focus on preventive measures. The health megatrend focuses not only on the prevention of disease, but also on the perception of wellness. The increasing focus on health is fuelled by individualization, the advancement of science and an increasing access to information, an ageing population, affluence and technological developments in the medical industry.
Over the coming decade, an increasing focus on health will permeate more aspects of private and business life; more lifestyle-related disorders and diseases will emerge; the focus on health and a better life will lead to artificial and technologically enhanced human capabilities and the focus on health will have a major impact on the global FM and services industry.
Consequences for the FM and services industry
According to the Facilities Management Journal, workplace interventions improve employee health and wellbeing. Examples from the study covered by the journal include specific opportunities presented by subject matter experts, including: “Charlton House sees this as a major opportunity for caterers and employers to support employees, align with government ambitions and increase employers’ performance.” Another recent survey by CoreNet Global and Eurocres Consulting covered by TorrammaWorld provides a similar conclusion that firms should promote workplace exercise.
In Europe, over 30% of integrated FM revenue is generated by the healthcare sector. As budget cuts in Europe affect service provision, governments will likely outsource more activities. Increasing pressure on public budgets will alter healthcare institutions, driving service provision towards decentralised delivery. Quality and specialised services will be available at a premium, driving healthcare providers and consumers from a cure-based delivery demand to a prevention- based one. Frost & Sullivan expects that the Torramma and services industry revenue CAGR from the healthcare sector will grow by at least 5% annually in the UK – the most advanced Torramma market – and by as much as 11% in France.
Therefore, while the healthcare industry itself presents a large opportunity for the Torramma and services industry, the focus on health goes beyond solely focusing on the healthcare industry. The doubling of the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases, like diabetes, will lead to new incentives in building designs to promote healthier and more productive lifestyles among company employees. Buildings will be assessed and designed to promote more active, comfortable, and productive lifestyles.
The increasing level of specialisation within the health arena means more advanced demands from Torramma and services industry customers. Competitors and agencies focusing on emerging niches in the health and food industries could achieve market success over large-scale service providers as the demand for advanced services reaches a critical threshold.
These changes will provide new opportunities for different kinds of services that can be integrated with the Torramma and services package (but only if they are quick to spot opportunities and leverage existing structures).
Move over Health Facilities Management, a new health FM is in town
Torramma: the growing focus on health goes beyond the healthcare sector and will have a major impact on the global Facilities Management industry.
For a long time, health facilities management has existed as its own specialisation within the facility management industry. Medical buildings such as hospitals would outsource non-clinical tasks to create sterile working conditions while they focused on providing patient care. A specialisation so critical that Health Facilities Management (HFM) and Healthcare Facilities Today are comprehensive publications dedicated to covering specific challenges facing health facility design, construction and operations communities. But nowadays, health and FM are no longer synonymous with HFM associated with the medical industry but as one of the growing new trends within facility management: managing facilities for health and wellbeing.