Business of Well-being

Wellness by the Channel: Global TV and Insight About Personal Health

Global TV and Insight About Personal Health

Of the many things healthcare experts tell us to avoid, the most common one is to cease living a sedentary existence: To get up and out of the den, where we sit transfixed in a form of autohypnosis, as the slogans, catch-phrases, commercials and 'infotainment' tranquilize our thoughts, slow our metabolism and have us perform (repeatedly) the same reflex - the reach-and-grab consumption of salty snacks, and the hold-and-pour ritual of drinking alcohol.


This environment is, indeed, the enemy of wellness because the content itself is the intellectual equivalent of junk food. But, as companies continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on nothing more than trial-and-error (with regard to promoting better nutrition and preventive care), TV can, in fact, be the ally of good health.


The emphasis here is on the right kind of TV programming, complemented by the single most powerful catalyst for change: Personal choice. That is, when employees have the chance to create the channels of their preference - and when that programming offers multiple perspectives, from a multitude of broadcasters in Europe, Asia and the Americas - the result is a more informed citizenry and a healthier workforce.


I write these words as the Founder and CEO of Choose. TV, which enables users to watch television programming from major outlets such as TVI (Ukraine), WABC-TV (New York), C5N (Argentina), Bansal News (India), Hir TV (Hungary) and France 24, among others.


And, having surveyed reportage from around the world, I know that TV can be a positive medium, inseparable from its distinct message. In this case, these twin forces can enlighten employees about everything from the merits of maintaining a Mediterranean diet (versus the 'no carbs' fad in the States) to which kinds of strength conditioning are best for burning fat and increasing muscle mass.


The point is that TV is not the enemy, particularly when you mobilize the medium, converting a piece of hardware that requires people to enter a room and sit before a densely pixelated overlay of glass into something they can hold in the palm of their hand.


Picture workers outside, amidst the clean air and ideal weather, walking - and watching their favorite health and wellness shows from Great Britain and Brazil, or Italy and Ireland. Watch them, as they watch and learn about the global approach to fitness and nutrition, or the international viewpoint about caloric intake and the use of certain prescription medications. That scenario, the idea of a hundred (or a thousand) TV channels in your pocket, is a far more affordable and effective way for companies to publicize wellness.

An Educated Workforce and Televised News About Good Health

The overarching theme to this discussion is that corporate wellness has many origins, which vary in cost and degrees of success. The proliferation of mobile devices changes this dynamic because it allows companies to mobilize their employees, encouraging them to use a favorite medium (incorporated into and made available for their smartphones and tablets) to educate themselves about improving their health.


Or: To be mobile, you must be mobilized; you must have the means and the motivation, thanks to an international collection of choices, to watch news and original programming about personal wellness.


The mobilization factor is the very reason my team is in the midst of preparing this offering because, far from being a vast wasteland, TV is a global frontier of many pathways. The one that leads to knowledge and empowerment, expressed in an assortment of languages (and subtitles), is the destination we call corporate wellness.


That point of arrival is interactive - we can see a host in Australia or a trainer in France, while we walk the parkland of Dallas or the grid of Manhattan - and we can join that experience, lunging and jumping in unison with a televised class.


We can share and recommend this content; we can make Must-See TV a reality, rather than a mothballed motto from cyberspace. Information begets wisdom, which begets choice and control. Let us, therefore, flip the channel to one of health and wellness. For, therein lies the guide to being a person of sound mind and body.

About the Author

Tan Tran is the Founder and CEO of Choose.TV, which allows users to customize the global television of their choice, based on news, entertainment and education.

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