Brain health disorders cause considerable pain and suffering, care and health needs and trillions of dollars of economic losses in our society each year. These disorders are expected to increase during and post COVID-19. Brain health is essential to ensure that people have the brain skills to flourish in the modern globalized, digitalized economy.
Brain skills include self-control, emotional intelligence, creativity, compassion, altruism, systems thinking, collective intelligence and cognitive flexibility. Unfortunately, despite the critical role these skills play, we do not know enough about the impact of these brain health disorders on our workplaces, communities, economies and societies and we do not know how to mitigate them.
How can we address these brain issues through a supportive policy environment, and tracking and evaluating outcomes? Enter brain capital.
Brain capital needs to be integral to a new narrative of growth, progress and welfare, which puts people at the centre of our economic systems – their well-being, their interaction with others and their psychological resilience to shocks.
