The Impact of Health and Wellbeing Solutions on Corporate Health and Competitive Advantage
David Wortley
Director
IORMA Health & Wellness Technology Centre (HWTC)
October 2024
View the full video of the event below.
Life Changing Lifestyle Medicine Practices and Experiences:
1.00.06
Inspiring stories from people of many different backgrounds about how their lives have been changed as a result of one or more pillars of lifestyle medicine e.g. physical activity. healthy eating, sleep, mental wellbeing, healthy relationships and minimising harmful substances. Each panel member will share the circumstances that led them to lifestyle medicine practices, the impact that has had on their lives and what tips and lessons can help others in similar situations. Some panel members have dealt with physical and emotional traumas using lifestyle medicine whilst other have learnt to age more healthily and avoid and even reverse conditions such as diabetes this way.
The Global Challenge of lifestyle related health issues such as diabetes and obesity is a driving force for the adoption of health tracking technology coupled with a shift in responsibility for personal health management towards the citizen. Consumer lifestyle management technologies such as wearable devices and mobile applications are set to have a massive disruptive impact on Business and Society, creating opportunities for corporates to gain competitive advantage whilst also challenging traditional models for personal healthcare provision.
Devices like the iWatch have moved beyond activity and sleep tracking to incorporate biosensors capable of monitoring in real time key health parameters such as blood pressure and heart rate variability (HRV). Not only does this give individuals greater access to and control of their personal health management, it creates new relationships between health care providers and individuals.
In addition, these biosensors will have the capability to uniquely identify or profile the wearer and thereby provide a gateway to verifiable identity applications including commercial transactions and security. Giving the citizen private access to their own health data as a fundamental human right may well require a form of social contract between the citizen and society. This social contract might state that in exchange for private and secure access to personal health data, the citizen agrees that this data in an anonymous format can be used to both provide the citizen with health statistics and comparisons with peers. The collective anonymised data would contribute to a global health database where big data and crowd sourcing can help society build better understanding of best lifestyle practices.
This article details the challenges and opportunities for the corporate sector created by these developments and suggests the most likely scenarios and their implications for business and society.
The Obesity Challenge
Lifestyle related medical conditions such as obesity are an increasing cause of concern and a massive cost burden to business and society. Obesity has direct causal links to conditions such as diabetes, cancer, strokes and cardiovascular problems. The Harvard School of Public Health Obesity Prevention Source (1) web site suggests that in 2005, in the USA alone $190 Billion were spent on obesity related health care with research carried out in 2012 suggesting that 20% of healthcare spending in the USA was obesity related.
Obesity is responsible for both direct and indirect costs to the corporate sector and although indirect costs are harder to measure, there has been research to indicate that obese employees have greater absenteeism levels, less ability to operate at full physical and mental capacity and can be responsible for higher insurance costs, all of which will impact the bottom line of corporate business.
With these levels of costs and the probability that obese staff at all levels in the organisation are operating at less than full capacity, it is clear that cost effective solutions designed to tackle obesity can not only provide massive benefits to society at a time when public health resources are increasingly stretched but can also improve levels of corporate profitability.
UK Daily Mail Article 2014
In many developed countries which provide Public National Health Services, the rising cost of treating lifestyle related conditions is becoming a critical factor which threatens the sustainability of publicly funded treatment for these conditions.
Daily Mail Article 2013
The bottom line is that, as the article above suggests “….the best chance we have for increasing our life spans and overall improving our health is to adjust our personal behaviours and to do so at an early age.”
Technology, Lifestyles and Obesity
One of the most worrying features of the growth in levels of obesity is the rise in the obesity levels amongst the “Digital Native” Generation whose intuitive adoption of technology and entry into a world of powerful interactive devices and fast food has led to increasingly sedentary lifestyles and poor diets. This in turn has an impact on body shape and composition and obesity. Whilst there may be no immediate impact on health during youth, obesity amongst young people is a ticking time bomb that will inevitably lead to serious health problems in later life.
The medical profession, in general, see the use of technology in the context of providing solutions that either cure medical conditions, provide early detection of conditions or enable a rapid response for patient treatment. Prevention of obesity and/or the related medical conditions is seen as the expert domain of medical professionals rather than an issue which should or could be managed by individuals themselves even though lifestyle choices are a personal responsibility.
Technology and Changing Lifestyle Behaviours
The studies that have taken place on obesity indicate that the lifestyle interventions which can improve wellbeing, reduce the Body Mass Index (BMI) indicator of obesity and consequential conditions such as Diabetes 2 include :-
- Increased daily physical activity
- Better diet and nutrition
The challenge for making lasting behavioural changes on lifestyles is to create the environment and motivation that empower the individual to take control of their lifestyle and accept responsibility for personal health management rather than look to drugs, supplements or bariatric surgery for solutions. Having social groups with support mechanisms can encourage sustained changes in habits as can access to pre-prepared diets with good nutritional balances.
The technologies which seem to offer the most promise for better personal health management are those which allow the individual to measure and track physical activity, body composition and the calorific and nutritional values of food. Without personal measurement and feedback with personalised advice and encouragement to maintain positive lifestyle changes, it is very difficult to change behaviours which in turn leads to a reliance on drugs or medical procedures to manage the situation.
Wearable Technologies
Wrist-worn wearable devices and market predictions
There are a growing number of wearable devices that offer activity and sleep tracking facilities. As these devices increase in sophistication, they are incorporating additional sensors capable of measuring health parameters such as pulse rate, heart rate variability and blood pressure. Many wearable devices available today can be worn 24×7, act as a “Smart Watch”, are waterproof and incorporate near field communication (NFC) that allows almost instant access to data via a mobile application and, because this data is transferred to cloud services, it can provide data analytics for both personal and public health informatics.
To support the physical activity and sleep tracking, there are also applications that access food databases that enable the user to measure the calorific and nutritional values of their meals. As a consequence, the combination of the wearable devices, nutritional values and daily tips and information provide the tools to better manage personal lifestyles. To support these real-time tools, the impact of the lifestyle on weight can be tracked through wifi and Bluetooth enabled weigh scales.
Body Composition Analysis
A more accurate snapshot of obesity factors and a detailed breakdown of body fat and areas of concern in the body can be obtained from body composition analysers which are now appearing in shops and gymnasiums in Asia as a marketing tool to attract customers by offering a “free lifestyle analysis”.
The combination of real time tracking of physical activity, sleep and diet with regular snapshots of body composition and fitness levels provides corporate organisations with the opportunity to improve the health of both staff and customers, not only reducing the cost impact of obesity, but also providing competitive advantage and differentiation.
Corporate Opportunities and Challenges
Personal health is a very sensitive issue and any attempt to track the lifestyle behaviours of employees is likely to be strongly challenged because
- It infringes personal privacy
- It implies potential discrimination against individuals with bad lifestyle choices
- It invites potential litigation from users who fall ill whilst using the devices and applications
- It can be perceived as a threat to the medical profession
For these reasons, it is important that the use of wearable devices and body composition analysers should be entirely voluntary and based on a contract between the corporate organisation and the individual which offers no guarantees of improved health but is based on an agreement that in exchange for the user to agree to the use of their anonymised data, the user will be provided with tools to better manage their own health, be given personalised advice and invitations to health based activities and events, and be able to compare their progress against their peer groups.
The aggregation of anonymised data provides the corporate organisation to track the overall health of its volunteers and offer rewards and incentives to the best performers,
Author Personal Case Study
The author of this article has enjoyed good health and very little absence from work throughout a 45 year career despite being overweight through a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet. There was little motivation to change lifestyle habits but, in 2013 a DNA analysis from the USA company 23andme.com indicated that he had a 32% chance of getting Diabetes 2. Blood tests from the local doctor showed he was pre-diabetic but it was only a chance reading of an article on a wearable lifestyle tracking devices that led him to embark on a program to use gamification strategies and wearable technologies to improve his weight and blood test results.
By tracking physical activity, sleep and food intake, the author lost 21kg in 3 months, improved the blood test results and reduced the risk of Diabetes 2. The approach of setting goals for walking (10,000 steps per day) and burning more calories than consumed has resulted not only in measured blood test and blood pressure results but also in an improved sense of physical and mental wellbeing and a zest for life. The lessons learnt from this 2 year analysis using a variety of wearable devices include :-
- Walking at least 10,000 steps per day improves physical and mental wellbeing
- Try to walk after every meal
- Focus on eating 30g fibre per day
- Drink water
- Have last meal of the day at least 3 hours before bed time
- Try to get 8 hours sleep per day if possible
Corporate Lifestyle Solutions that benefit both Employer and Employee
There are a number of approaches that could have a significant impact on corporate profitability by not only reducing health-related costs and improving productivity but also by positively differentiating your organisation through employee health-related benefits.
- Lifestyle Medicine Collaboration
Lifestyle Medicine in a global phenomenon based on improving health and longevity through exercise, nutrition, sleep, mental health, social relationships and avoiding harmful substances. This international network of healthy living specialists can offer practical solutions such as workshops, consultancy and webinars that not only educate but also motivate.
- Longevity Network Solutions – Helping staff to “Age Younger”
The Longevity Network is a holistic health and wellbeing solution that helps staff to age younger through personalised programmes of exercise. It involves a simple bioage assessment that measures individual metabolic, cardiovascular, strength and flexibility and builds a health and wellbeing program designed to improve all these factors in a personalised way.
Providing this type of facility as a corporate staff resource accessible to all staff on a voluntary basis with recognition for those staff making the most reduction in bio-age is a great win-win strategy.
- Epigenetics for Personalised Diet
A great way to provide personalised exercise and diet recommendations based on a DNA profile is a very cost-effective way to help all employees benefit both from advice and also, where appropriate, from personalised staff meals.
- Wearable Technologies and Mobile Applications
Why not supply wearable technologies such as a smart watch or smart ring to give employees an opportunity to better track their health. Combined with supporting lifestyle medicine advice on a voluntary basis, this is another real win-win solution.
- Body Composition Devices
Devices such as smart scales that can also measure body composition and use this data to support both diet and exercise are increasingly affordable as an employee benefit to use at home.
- Virtual Reality Stress Management Solutions
Mental health is a growing global problem but there are many virtual reality solutions that can help with mental health and mindfulness. These solutions range from mobile applications through VR and AR headsets to special rooms with immersive technology projectors that support mental health.
- Collaboration with Health Insurers
Providing a package of lifestyle related solutions such as those identified can also help when negotiating with health insurers to provide an employee package related to their willingness to monitor and manage their health.
Conclusion
Lifestyle medicine solutions and health and wellbeing technologies can make a significant impact on corporate profitability and brand image. If you wish to discuss these solutions in more detail, please contact the IORMA HWTC Director, David Wortley at [email protected]