Health leaders call for preventative approach to healthcare

Amongst the recommendations are plans to improve digital access, tackle waiting lists and establish a National Care System.

There is also a significant focus on the importance of preventative measures, to address the challenges from deteriorating population health and wellbeing.

As a pioneer for prevention in the healthcare space, Vitality was called upon to contribute to the insights published in the report.

In particular, the commission drew upon the evidence from the Vitality Programme, as well our latest Britain’s Healthiest Workplace findings, to examine the impact of behavioural biases and the effectiveness of incentivisation in overcoming these.

These findings highlight how intelligently designed nudges and incentives can bring about sustainable behaviour change and can effectively help to overcome the wellbeing challenges the country is facing.

For example, Vitality data shows those engaged with the Vitality Programme for a year increased their exercise by 22%, reduced consumption of fatty foods by 27% and increased the amount of fruit and vegetables they ate by 11%.

These improvements in lifestyle risks translate into reduced morbidity and mortality risk. Members who recorded physical activity at least once a week had a 15% lower risk of hospitalisation and highly active members had a 41% lower mortality risk.

Further analysis by Vitality suggests that incentivising healthy habits and reducing 10% of the preventable disease burden could save the NHS at least £1.2 billion, making the case for prevention clearer than ever.