Masawa Minute 103

Public health solutions for loneliness | Should founders try ayahuasca? | + More! 🌺

This is the Masawa Minute — mental wellness, social impact, and impact investing snippets from what we’ve read and created in the last month + where you can get active.

Happy 2024! It’s the new year and old us, but with a renewed sense of purpose and motivation to continue working towards prioritizing founder wellbeing, minimizing human capital risk, and centering mental health. Consequently, this newsletter is about (self-)improvement, new connections and embracing change — everything you need to thrive and get inspired in the coming months. Enjoy!

Attend

If you’re in Davos (at the events outside the Convention Center), join Masawa on Monday, 15 January, at an intimate roundtable discussion for funders focused on improving youth mental health hosted and orchestrated by Prospira Global. We’ll connect with like-minded funders, delve deeper into the funding landscape, explore catalytic funding opportunities, and be awed by exciting announcements. If you are keen to join, please express your interest to receive an invite by reaching out to vartika@prospira.global.

We’ll also be spending time at the House of Trust hosted by yeswetrust, especially on 16 January, where the focus is on Mental Health. There are many other events we’re eyeing and making sure we leave enough time for serendipity, as well, so let us know if you’ll be bundled up in the Swiss Alps, too.

This Week’s Story

Social prescribing: addressing the global crisis of loneliness

Amidst the global loneliness epidemic, communities are innovatively deploying public health strategies to combat social isolation as a critical health concern. Recent estimates indicate that 1 in 4 older adults and 5 to 15 percent of adolescents experience social isolation, equating it to risks comparable to smoking and obesity. While previously viewed mainly as a social issue, there is a growing trend to address it through various public health approaches, enhancing interpersonal connections and linking individuals to healthcare professionals and diverse support systems.

In addition to initiatives like heatmaps, public health campaigns, and practical assistance, there’s a shift towards healthcare professionals becoming adept at diagnosing and supporting non-medical challenges such as loneliness or stress — Pharmacy Addressing Loneliness and Social Isolation (PALS) initiative is a great example. Furthermore, the emerging “social prescribing” movement, practiced in 24 countries, redirects patients to nonmedical assistance through person-centered conversations, alleviating pressure on health services. Evidence shows that social prescribing also generates significant economic impact, delivering between £2.14 and £8.56 for every £1 invested.

All of these interventions are powerful in combating loneliness, but — rather fittingly to the cause — they cannot realize their full potential and remain sustainable when working in isolation. As is the case with any public health issue, governments must assume a significant role in coordinating efforts, allocating resources, and addressing underlying issues. However, as societies recognize the value of such initiatives, there is hope for increased investment, scale, and national impact.

How Communities Around the World Are Connecting Social Isolation and Health

What else we’re reading…

🖊️ If you haven’t yet penned your resolutions for the new year, don’t fret! You can draw some inspiration from this list of 10 strategies that you can use to meaningfully support your mental health — after all, nourishing your (mental) wellbeing is key to managing stress and finding purpose in trying times.

🌱 For your next founders’ retreat, you might want to consider ayahuasca– at least according to Masawa’s friend Eddy Vaisberg. While recognizing that this experience isn’t for everyone, he, along with some other successful investors, sees it as a transformative tool that enhances human connection and vital leadership skills for founders.

☕ As we strive to become better versions of ourselves in the new year, sustaining change can be challenging as changing habits is hard. But it doesn’t have to be — let’s revisit this brilliant text on how to implement the changes we want in our lives without needing to rely on the power of will that so often betrays us.

🌊 Despite high awareness of the threats posed by climate change, collective good intentions often fail to translate into action. Overcoming this challenge requires self-reflection, understanding the “why,” and embracing divergent thinking — all combined in the MAP coaching model, intertwining personal meaning with climate literacy, and fostering sustained pro-environmental behaviors.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Leadership styles have evolved substantially in recent years, yet there’s still room for improvement. The benefits of “minimalist” leadership” — prioritizing employee empowerment and the good of the company over rigid hierarchy and control — are well-established, and the approach is regaining traction, proving essential for building stronger, more innovative businesses.

Gabija Vilkaitė