Why Belonging Matters in Health: Replacing One-Off Services With Membership (#75)

For years, health was something you bought — a gym pass here, a blood test there, a spa weekend once a year. Now it's becoming something you join.Christophe Jauquet and his AI thinking partner Thalia Muses trace a shift showing up across continents and industries: health as a membership, a place you belong to rather than a service you buy.The signals:The Well (Frankfurt): a members' club that is part gym, part clinic, part spa — five treatments a month, "for as long as you belong," opened in Europe's banking capital.Stille (Melbourne): an A$10M members' club built around bathing, biomarkers and community — capped at 1,000 people, deliberately treating loneliness and ageing as one problem.India: a group investing $36M in "integrated wellness campuses" in Hyderabad and Bengaluru — gym, physiotherapy, rehab and testing under one membership.The gap: a new McKinsey wellness study finds 84% say wellness is a top priority, but only 13% feel they're getting there.HSBC (Singapore): a bank offering wealthy clients a health-and-longevity concierge through medical partners — because what is money for, if not more good years?Dusit (Thailand): the hotel group's month-long "Wellfest" running across its properties — a recurring franchise that behaves like a membership in disguise, with Gen Z and millennials driving the spending.Why it matters: when banks, hotels, gyms and real estate — industries that share nothing — all start selling belonging, it's not a trend, it's a structural shift. Christophe ties it to the Transformation Economy: the most valuable thing a business can sell is no longer a product or a service, but a transformation — helping you become the person you want to be. Belonging itself is a core Life Aspiration. The strategic question flips from "what health service can we sell?" to "what health relationship can we hold?" — because a membership builds belonging and a longitudinal health record, and whoever holds that record holds the customer. The tension to watch: today this is built for the well-off, and belonging can't stay a luxury.Chapters:0:00 Health you can belong to, not buy1:10 Frankfurt: The Well, a home for your health2:54 Melbourne: Stille, bathing, loneliness and longevity4:50 India: wellness campuses at scale5:59 The wish and the gap (McKinsey: 84% vs 13%)8:39 The Transformation Economy: a relationship with a roof9:41 When your bank becomes a health home (HSBC Singapore)11:17 When your hotel joins in (Dusit Wellfest)12:55 The through-line: industries that were never health companies13:11 What it means for your business15:00 The tension: belonging can't be a luxurySend us your ideas, suggestions or questions.Subscribe to Healthusiasm newsletter:https://www.healthusiasm.com-- -- --Book Christophe Jauquet for keynotes: www.christophejauquet.com