Gwen's Story: 'Because of the rewards, I decided to keep my PMI'

When Gwen decided to "rewire" - rather than retire - from her job as teacher, it was the additional benefits offered through the Vitality Programme, which reward her for keeping active, that helped her decide to keep her PMI in place, as well as the everyday care benefits, such as GPs and physios, and knowing she has access to top consultants should she need them.

As a keen gardener for most of her life and someone who loves being outside, Vitality member Gwen credits this with helping her to keep physically and mentally in good health.

“I’ve always enjoyed gardening… I enjoy seeing the results of the time and effort I put in," she tells us. “If I’ve had a horrible day, I can do one of the activities that I enjoy and it brings me back down to earth and gets me settled.”

After taking the decision to retire from work, something Gwen describes as not retiring but “rewiring”, it was a no brainer for her to continue the Vitality PMI cover she’d previously received through work.

“Because of the rewards… I made the decision that when I left my job I would continue with Vitality.”

“If I do get injured I recover quickly because I am active and fit”

We know from our own data that someone’s overall physical and mental health can have a big impact on their risk of illness, hospitalisation and speed of recovery.

More active members are less likely to need hospital treatment, and there are reduced healthcare claim costs from members that are highly engaged in the Vitality Programme¹.

“As I’m getting older, I’m noticing that if I do get injured, I recover quickly because I am active and fit”, say’s Gwen.

“I think if I wasn’t as active as I am, with a couple of the injuries I’ve had, the recovery period would have been longer.”

“You can stay active in so many different ways”

The strength of the Vitality Programme, delivered alongside market-leading PMI cover is its ability to drive positive, sustainable behaviour change, to help people live in better health.

And, with an intelligently designed combination of nudges and incentives, it can appeal to everyone, across all ages and demographics.

“I really think that the Vitality Programme is one of the best programmes out there because you can gain points through many different ways.”

Indeed, like Gwen the majority of Vitality members earn points through the simple everyday activities they’re already doing, whether that’s gardening or walking the dog.

And if you need that little nudge to keep up with your fitness, well as Gwen says: “the programme gives you the chance to stay active… to stay fit in so many different ways.”

Because ultimately, our health is all connected and the more we look after ourselves, the more chance we have of preventing illness or recovering more quickly if something does happen.

“I enjoy being active. It doesn’t matter if it’s running, working out at the gym, doing my garden. I enjoy being active because it makes me feel good, mentally and physically. Being fit is important.”