Politics & Government

A 'Win-Win' Wellness Collaboration for Newton Residents, Businesses

City officials and the company's founder think Wellcoin and Newton make a perfect fit.

Wellcoin officially came to Newton in June with the announcement of the Garden City as a Wellcoin Model City.

But Newton resident Glenn Laffel has been forming the company in his mind for some time and Dori Zaleznik, commissioner of Newton's Health and Human Services Department, has been excited about the possibility from the time she met Laffel two years ago.

“I was very interested in the plan for Wellcoin,” Zaleznik said during a recent event at Gath Memorial Pool as part of Wellcoin Month in the city. “People often know what they should do, but don’t really have the incentives or their goals are too big.”

Find out what's happening in Newtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wellcoin rewards participants with virtual currency for the healthy decisions they make every day. Those decisions range from donating blood to getting enough sleep to visiting the doctor or choosing a healthy breakfast.  Participants then redeem accumulated Wellcoins at partner businesses for a variety of rewards including free yoga classes at Prana Power Yoga, free vegetables at Whole Foods or other rewards, which means that individual Wellcoin participants receive benefits and Newton businesses have a new way to connect with their customers.

“We all want our local businesses to thrive,” Zaleznik said. “Here’s a way we can all do fun things and promote local business at the same time.”

Find out what's happening in Newtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For Wellcoin’s founder, the new venture is an opportunity to impact the health and wellbeing of an enormous audience – a much larger audience than Laffel was able to touch during his years as a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

“I just thought I would like to have an impact more on a population level,” Laffel said, adding that First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign inspired him to develop Wellcoin. “I wanted to take [Let’s Move] and catalyze that by adding rewards and incentives.”

While these early stages of Wellcoin are designed for adults, Laffel is already working on the technology and program to bring the program to kids. He said that will likely begin with a system designed for pregnant women since studies show moms and dads-to-be tend to be particularly health conscious.

As Wellcoin expands to children, Zaleznik said she’d like to see Newton expand its partnership to bring Wellcoin to the city’s students.

“I’m very encouraged,” Zaleznik said. “I think this will work very well in Newton.”

Mayor Setti Warren agrees. The mayor has declared July to be Wellcoin Month in Newton and publicly signed up to participate in the program during the event at Gath Pool.

“We are so excited to partner with Glenn [Laffel] and Wellcoin to promote health and wellness,” Warren said. “It allows anyone of any background to participate in health and wellness, and it promotes local business.”

On Tuesday, July 23, Pinkberry at The Street in Chestnut Hill will host another Wellcoin Month event during which Warren will offer remarks and visitors can receive  free yogurt and Wellcoin swag. The mayor is scheduled to speak at 1:30 p.m.

“It really is a win-win,” Zaleznik said. “The individual who signs up wins and the community at-large wins.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here