The home of the future: where care, prevention and wellbeing come together
Healthcare systems are under increasing pressure from demographic change, rising costs and workforce shortages. Traditional, institution‑centric care models are reaching their limits. In response, health is shifting into everyday life – with the home emerging as the central hub for prevention, wellbeing and long‑term care.
Enabled by digital health technologies, smart home solutions and new residential concepts, Healthy Living integrates care and wellbeing seamlessly into living environments. A consumer survey across the US, the UK, Germany and Japan with 4,000 respondents confirms strong support: personal health ranks higher than financial independence or employment, and the majority of people want to age at home rather than in institutional settings.
Healthy Living is not a distant vision, but a scalable response to structural challenges in housing and healthcare – requiring coordinated ecosystems across healthcare, real estate, insurance, technology and the public sector.
"67% rank personal health among their top three life priorities, ahead of financial independence or employment. At the same time, we are increasingly moving away from today’s fragmented, facility-based care to a digital-first, proactive and personalized system."
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Michael Ey and Thomas Veith interviewed by Dr. Thomas Solbac
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The study at a glance
From institution-centric care to Healthy Living
For decades, healthcare systems have been designed around hospitals, doctors’ offices and episodic interventions. While this model has delivered medical progress, it is increasingly unsustainable in the face of ageing populations, rising chronic disease and workforce shortages. Healthy Living represents a fundamental shift away from this model by embedding health into everyday life and living environments, where we spend most of our time.
Our vision for healthier living
Imagine waking up in a home that optimizes air quality, and light to match your body’s rhythms and optimize your sleep. Wearable and ambient sensors detect early signs of illness, while AI-driven preventive care adjusts nutrition, movement, and recovery before problems emerge. Living spaces prioritize health through ergonomic designs, autonomous mobility, green spaces, and food systems that deliver personalized, nutrient-rich meals. Digital health twins simulate your biology to guide treatment, training, and longevity strategies tailored specifically to you. In this future, your whole living environment is designed to support to keep you healthy. This vision of Healthy Living is becoming reality – and demand is growing.
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Strong consumer demand and willingness to pay
Across markets, consumer interest in the concept of Healthy Living is high. Consumers are currently most interested in:
The market for Healthy Living
Healthy Living is not only relevant from a social perspective, but also economically significant. The combined market size of the US, UK, Germany and Japan is estimated at $2.38 trillion per year. The US represents the largest single market at $1.4 trillion, followed by the UK ($341 billion), Japan ($310 billion) and Germany ($311 billion). In comparative terms, this market size represents about 6% of the combined GDP of these four countries, and about 20% of the combined housing consumption, residential investment and health spending markets.
Ecosystem collaboration is essential
No single player can deliver Healthy Living alone. Success depends on orchestrated collaboration across real estate developers, healthcare providers, insurers, MedTech and pharma companies, retailers and governments. Only integrated ecosystems can deliver accessible, affordable and scalable Healthy Living solutions.
Explore the full Healthy Living study
The HOUSE agenda: five pillars for turning Healthy Living into reality
As healthcare shifts from institutions to living environments, the HOUSE agenda provides a clear roadmap. Five pillars turn vision into delivery:
The market for Healthy Living solutions
- Importance of personal health
- Market potential
- Consumer spending
- Spending priorities
- Trusted stakeholders
Importance of personal health
Based on our survey, personal health is the most important concern for consumers (ranked first by 36% of respondents), followed by personal security & physical safety, and emotional safety & stability. This relevance forms robust basis for Healthy Living concepts, which can support personal health, including physical and emotional wellbeing. Thus, we need to ensure our healthcare systems and our homes can adequately meet this consumer need.
Market potential
The market for Healthy Living solutions across surveyed countries is already substantial and poised for further growth. Based on our analysis, the combined market size of the US, UK, Germany and Japan is estimated at $2.38 trillion per year. The US represents the largest single market at $1.4 trillion, followed by the UK ($341 billion), Japan ($310 billion) and Germany ($311 billion). In comparative terms, this market size represents about 6% of the combined GDP of these four countries.
Consumer spending
On average, consumers state they would be willing to pay an additional $140 per month in rent for housing that enables them to stay healthy and live longer. This suggests that Healthy Living is not only a product that interests consumers, but also a potential value driver in residential real estate and urban development.
Spending priorities
If people had additional funds to invest in building new living space, 44% of survey respondents would spend these funds on Healthy Living environments, opposed to green and energy efficient buildings at only 21%, safety-oriented buildings at 19% and digital and smart home solutions at ~16%. This strongly emphasizes consumers’ desire for Healthy Living solutions – even beyond comfort or security.
Trusted stakeholders
Hospitals and care providers are the most trusted providers of Healthy Living solutions. However, to extend prevention and care into everyday life, they must collaborate closely with insurances, MedTech and real estate players in integrated ecosystems. Hospitals therefore can act as clinical anchors and coordinators, ensuring quality, trust and continuity of care while enabling other ecosystem players to extend prevention, monitoring and support into homes and communities.
“Trust is one of the most valuable currencies in healthcare. Care providers, as the most trusted stakeholders, have a unique opportunity to transform the health ecosystems they operate in — shifting the focus from reactive disease care to a more holistic “wellcare” system.”
Michael Ey,Partner, Global Health Services Leader at PwC GermanyDownload the full study
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Methodology
For this study, a representative consumer survey with 4,000 participants across the US, UK, Germany and Japan has been conducted.
The author team was supported by a range of international Healthy Living and Future of Health enthusiasts including Ellen Zimmermann, Lilly Hammerschmidt, Moritz Hoock, Tobias Webhofen, Viola Rjosk, Hitomi Kubota, and Lukas Rojahn.
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