Developing new technologies to target healthcare advice
While Health Assessments can be hugely valuable in driving individual behavioural change, they are particularly suited to individuals already interested and engaged in their health
"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." *
Until relatively recently, clinicians
and governments have been focused almost solely on the treatment of
illness. The resulting major advances achieved have made an immense
contribution to increasing the life expectancy of Western
populations.
Individuals are also taking control of their lives in ways not envisaged in even the previous generation; through new technologies, we have unprecedented access to information and this links with a growth in appetite for health advice on how to improve personal overall wellbeing - mentally and physically.
These, alongside other major changes in healthcare and in societies at large, have triggered a shift away from discussions about the state of national healthcare to the state of national health; we are moving from how we tackle illness to how populations can be supported to live longer, healthier, happier lives.
At Bupa, we consider these shifts to be a significant opportunity to help people to be more engaged in their health and wellbeing, having long believed that tackling the causes of ill-health early delivers significant benefits for individuals, for healthcare systems and for society as a whole.
As such, we have been working to help people take steps to improve their health at different levels of society.
*Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19 June - 22 July 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948. http://www.who.int/en/
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Bupa's review of research to support workplace health interventions
As the populations of developed economies age, the dependency ratio in those countries is changing, meaning that increasing numbers of people are dependent on those in work
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Developing new wellness services at our centres
Sanitas, Bupa’s Spanish business, is developing a new kind of wellbeing centre in response to changes in how people want support in managing their health
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Sunlight exposure and vitamin D status in UK children
Vitamin D is essential for children’s bone health and may also protect against disease in later life. Previous studies indicate that a large percentage of UK school children have insufficient levels of vitamin D and cases of the severe childhood bone disease rickets are being reported in the UK
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Presenteeism in the workplace
According to figures from the CIPD absence turnover report 2009 the average level of employee absence is 7.4 days per year
