DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2), the Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative (DAC) and the McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) teamed up to identify the most high-impact areas of opportunity that employers can invest in to promote employee brain health and enhance organizational outcomes.
“Amidst an aging demographic, retaining experienced workers in the workforce longer and increasing the productivity of younger workers has become critical to business success,” said George Vradenburg, founding chairman of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative and the co-founder and chairman of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. “An organization’s brain capital is now a strategic business imperative that demands a proactive and forward-thinking approach."
According to MHI, fostering brain capital has the potential to unlock $26 trillion in global economic opportunities by enhancing workforce performance, igniting innovation and reclaiming millions of years of quality life.
In a market full of fragmented solutions, UsA2, DAC and MHI partnered together to narrow down the essential factors that can help employers effectively invest in brain health for their companies. Leveraging insights from MHI research and peer-reviewed literature, UsA2, DAC and MHI worked to identify and illustrate the shared risk and resilience factors for employee brain health and their common outcomes across three domains — mental health, neurological health and workplace performance.
The analysis revealed nine factors that overlapped across all three domains and represent high-impact levers with the greatest potential to achieve value.
The cross-cutting factors identified are:
1. Stress
2. Sleep
3. Community Engagement
4. Health Risk Factors
5. Social Support
6. Physical Activity
7. Cognitive Engagement
8. Access to Health Care
9. Mindsets and Beliefs
“By mapping the most impactful areas where employers can drive change, this unified model identifies strategic investments that can not only benefit employees, but also benefit the bottom line,” said Vradenburg. “From lowering healthcare costs to boosting employee innovation and retention, the advantages for companies to invest in brain health are clearer than ever.”
The U.S. labor market is shifting to jobs that increasingly require greater analytical firepower, creativity and reasoning to manage the complexities of modern work. Staying ahead of this transition requires businesses to take a systemic approach that places a premium on improving brain health at multiple points.
“Investing in employee brain health is emerging as a competitive advantage for businesses, with the potential to generate nearly $12 trillion in global economic value,” said Kana Enomoto, Director of Brain Health at the McKinsey Health Institute. “As technology and AI reshape the workplace, the need for advanced brain skills – such as creativity, resilience and curiosity – is more important than ever. Employers who see the value of brain health and brain skills are better positioned for economic growth and resilience.”
Businesses interested in gauging where they stand on brain health can complete the Brain Health Best Practice Score, a new feature of the HERO Health and Well-being Best Practices Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer. This free self-assessment helps organizations assess their health and well-being initiatives for promoting brain health. The new Brain Health Best Practice Score was launched by Business Collaborative for Brain Health and the Health Enhancement Research Organization in September 2024.
About UsAgainstAlzheimer’s
UsAgainstAlzheimer’s is engaged in a relentless pursuit to end Alzheimer’s, the sixth leading killer in America. Our work centers on prevention, early detection and diagnosis, and equal access to treatments regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. To achieve our mission, we give voice to patients and caregivers while partnering with government, scientists, the private sector, and allied organizations -- the people who put the “Us” in UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.
About Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative
The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC) is a pioneering worldwide initiative to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and improve brain health, seeking to mirror the success of global efforts against infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Covid, and Malaria. DAC is extending global research beyond its current focus on traditional Western European ethnic populations into the highly diversified populations of the Global South, where the vast majority of those with Alzheimer’s live. By introducing lower-cost screening and diagnostic tools as well as new treatment and prevention modalities in primary care and community health settings, DAC is driving implementation of health system solutions that are appropriate for worldwide application. DAC also promotes the vital importance of brain health throughout the lifespan by addressing cardiometabolic and lifestyle factors, especially in early and mid-life. Absent effective action at scale around the world, by 2050, more than 150 million families and half a billion people will be personally impacted by dementia, creating a social, financial, economic, and global security disaster of historic proportions. DAC was launched in Davos in 2021 by the World Economic Forum and the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer's Disease. For more information, please visit: davosalzheimerscollaborative.org.
About McKinsey Health Institute
The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) is an enduring, non-profit-generating institute within the firm. MHI believes, over the next decade, humanity could add as much as 45 billion extra years of higher-quality life, which is roughly six years per person on average — and substantially more in some countries and populations. MHI’s mission is to catalyze the actions needed across continents, sectors, and communities to realize this possibility.
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Media Contact Kristine Fedorenko kristine.fedorenko@finnpartners.com
