Behavior change towards a healthier lifestyle
How can health insurance be the engine for behavior change towards a healthier lifestyle? In 2009 the German health insurance company, Siemens Betriebskrankenkasse (SBK), approached sedes|research with the objective to create simple, practical and innovative product and service systems to help their customers to manage and remove daily obstacles to a healthier lifestyle. For some people, physical health is not the highest priority, and knowledge about a healthy lifestyle does not necessarily lead to one. Included in these barriers is time pressure. Many people do not make time for regular mealtimes. sedes|research engaged in designing new services and communication strategies for SBK and their customers.
Background
The first step was to understand the target group and examine their daily life activities. Based on in-depth insights, sedes|research then prototyped service innovations for the customer by increasing their awareness and motivating people to take action towards a healthier lifestyle. Information channels on health issues are varying depending on different behavior patterns of the population and were identified. The two main challenges for this issue is the lack of knowledge and the lack of priority placed on living a healthier lifestyle. To tackle this, the project team’s objective was to come up with a way to visualize the added value in implementing a lifestyle change. Key activities included the research of behavioral patters in daily life and finding ways to motivate people to reflect on their personal health activities and foster autonomous learning. The project team found that a person’s social environment plays an important role in motivation. Furthermore, providing an outlined plan of daily activities is key to helping people realize that everyone can dedicate more time to health.
Methodology & approach
In the exploration phase, sedes|research shadowed 18 customers in their daily life to find out about their existing knowledge, motivations and behaviors along with the willingness to change around their health habits. The areas explored were physical activity, nutrition and body care. Different target groups, such as businessmen and families could be clustered in different categories such as non-intender, intender and health maintainer. A co-creation workshop with the project team at SBK provided a deeper dive into the information provided and lead to the development of first service innovations. Furthermore, interviews with the target group were conducted to find out about successful and failed attempts to change behavior. Asking questions about the interviewees’ lives was crucial to find out about behavioral changes that could lead to an improved work-life balance.
During the co-creation workshop, key findings of the exploration phase were presented and discussed. The research was bolstered additionally by the creation of tangible ideas and internal knowledge provided by the project team at SBK.
Result
Based on the results that were discovered through design methods, the sedes|research team developed emotive service innovations and communication strategies for different target groups. The final concept seeks to implement a service system in the everyday life of SBK customers, which can be carried out on their own with the help of professional support. The service system is structured in three phases: Reflect, Plan, and Be Active. The phase “Reflect” is used to encourage the participants of the “Delight for Health” initiative to self-reflect and participate in independent learning about their health. It aims to support the participants to develop their own strategies for a healthy lifestyle. In the “Plan” phase, the participants are supported in carrying out individual strategies for a healthy lifestyle in their everyday life. Innovative tools are offered to successfully realize their goals and maintain behavior change. In the phase “Be Active,” the participants are encouraged to prepare and plan their individual strategy. This is accomplished via new services and support which aim to motivate participants and reduce pressure. The goal of this phase is to uncover opportunities for a variety of alternatives to foster a healthy lifestyle. In this way, the individual feels supported and their plan is personalized to their lifestyle and activities.
