Walking the walk with wearable devices

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If you’’re going to talk the talk, you’’ve got to walk the walk. Literally. At Vitality we set an example by creating our own healthy work environment and removing barriers for our clients to encourage and incentivize their own employees to become more physically active.

As noted in this recent commentary article written by Vitality’’s Dr. Jonathan Dugas and published in Employee Benefit News, as a country we are more sedentary than ever before and our physical activity levels are abysmal – only about half of US adults meet the minimum guidelines for aerobic physical activity.  A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University study estimated that 11.1% of total health care expenditures are associated with inadequate levels of physical activity – equating to about $117 billion per year of direct health care expenditures associated with inadequate physical activity.

Unfortunately, just knowing we need to be more active has proven ineffective. Our research shows that affordable wearable devices help individuals increase and sustain activity levels to realize health benefits.

Vitality is designed around the use of incentives to motivate those who may not already be into fitness and keep those who have already adopted a healthy lifestyle on track. One of the ways we accomplish this is by offering a wide variety of wearable device options that easily integrate with our program so our members can choose the product that best suits their lifestyle and personal preference.

As part of our efforts to remove barriers, create fun challenges, and make it easy for our clients to use wearable devices to increase participation in our program, our Account Managers and Implementation Managers, at the end of last year, set a goal of selling 80,000 wearable devices to members. Not only was the goal met, but it was exceeded and more than 83,000 wearable devices are now being used to encourage members to be more active and help them track their progress.

Wearable devices are a powerful tool for individuals and for health promotion programs, helping improve activity levels while having fun along the way. We see these devices as an excellent investment in one’s health. And, as the technology advances, wearables will become easier to use, more durable and last longer – making them even more pervasive in encouraging Americans to get moving.

Learn how Vitality member Andrew Cooke used his wearable device to lose 40 pounds!

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