Objectively Measuring COVID-19 Transformations and Identifying Scalable Policy Determinants While Explicitly Accounting for The Influence of Culture

COVID-19 has moved health, in its broadest sense to the top of everyone’s agenda. Narratives and media are integral parts of today’s interconnected lives and increasingly shape our world. As healthy lifestyle choices become increasingly important, social sharing of new ideas and practices that gain credibility and engagement will have the potential to drive major behavioral shifts, as well as improve basic health literacy. This paper explores some transformational lifestyle narratives. Tracking what people feel is important at any point in time has implications for policymakers and private institutions, since such feelings can drive positive behavioural change. This ability, to understand what is important, in a timely manner, has never been more important since the outbreak of COVID-19. It provides a future orientation that can future-proof policy, at scale. Several key lifestyle narratives are tracked through Big Data and AI analyses, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing the dynamic situation in Japan and the UK. Most social media content is usually transient, but it is possible to identify timeless and transformational narratives that have utility and can affect change and create sustainable value.