PruHealth Finds The Nation Believes People Should Take More Responsibility For Their Own Health
Released on: March 25, 2011, 12:55 pm
Author:
Pruhealth
Industry:
Healthcare
PruHealth has revealed new research that shows a third of
Britons want people to pay for 'self-inflicted' health issues, two
thirds believe the nation is unhealthier now than ten years ago and
half expect the range and quality of NHS care to decline over the next
few years.
Two thirds (66%)* of Britons believe the nation is unhealthier now than it was ten
years ago, and taking more personal responsibility (69%) could be the best foot
forward.
The latest findings from PruHealth, the insurer that rewards people for engaging in
healthy behaviour, found respondents to be in line with Cameron's 'Big Society'.
More than two thirds (69%) of the nation believe people should take more
responsibility for their own health, while just 19 per cent feel it should lie on
the shoulders of the NHS. Nearly a third of Britons (30%) even go as far as
believing those with 'self-inflicted' health concerns caused by smoking, alcohol
abuse or being overweight should pick up the bill themselves.
While half of respondents (50%) feel the NHS currently offers a good level of care,
many believe the range (67%) and quality (49%) of services are likely to decrease in
the next few years.
Dr Katherine Tryon at PruHealth said: "People have realised that the nation’s
health is worse than even a decade ago and now the issue is whose responsibility is
it to change this - which is particularly crucial at a time when there is increased
pressure on healthcare finances. The key for both the public and private sector will
be to remove the barriers to healthy living - for example, increasing access to healthy activities and
providing stronger motivation through both financial and non financial incentives."
What Brits consider as the nation's problems are not necessarily ones they would
class as their own. For example, over half of respondents (52%) state obesity and
being overweight as the greatest risk to the UK. According to 2008 data from the
latest Health and Social Care Information Centre report** a quarter of adults (25%
men, 24% women) are obese, and 42% and 32% of men and women are overweight, yet in
this nationally representative survey less than one in ten (9%) of respondents
consider it a personal healthcare concern.
Dr Katherine Tryon at PruHealth continued: "While people are aware of an unhealthy
nation they are in
denial about their own. People need to realise that the 'nation’s health' means
them, but it is easy to ignore messages aimed at everybody. It’s easier said than
done but making health messages personally relevant is more likely to lead to
success.
Combining personalisation with other motivating factors such as incentivising
healthy behaviour and making it easier for people to access healthy activities is
what PruHealth aims to deliver through its Vitality programme. PruHealth’s members
can complete a Health Review giving them a personal Vitality Age reflecting their
risk and personalised health goals, before earning rewards for healthy activities in
the form of cashback and discounts with PruHealth’s health and leisure partners.
Notes to editors:
* Opinium Research carried out an online poll of 2,019 British adults from 11th -
15th February 2010. Results have been weighted to nationally representative
criteria.
** According to 'Statistics on obesity, physical activity and diet: England, 2010,
The Health and Social Care Information Centre'
About PruHealth
PruHealth was launched into the UK market in October 2004 as a joint venture between
Discovery and UK insurer, Prudential, in response to a growing need for
consumer-directed private medical insurance products. The company offers health
Insurance
that rewards customers for looking after themselves.
PR contact:
Susanna Walker-Robson
Account Director
Marble Arch Tower
17th Floor
55 Bryanston Street
London
W1H 7AA
07861 253652
www.pruhealth.co.uk
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