ICMIF member Simplyhealth, one of the UK’s leading healthcare plan providers has developed and launched a new app, which is free to all, to support people’s health and mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic and for the long-term. The mutual healthcare provider says it recognised that now is the time to amplify its long heritage of purpose-led values, and its commitment to providing as many people as possible access to better health and wellbeing, while donating a proportion of their profits to health-related causes in local communities.

For every download of the SimplyMe app, Simplyhealth will also donate £5 to support 160,000 young people who are facing disadvantage to stay healthy, safe, and active through sport.

Romana Abdin, Chief Executive at Simplyhealth said: “Never has our sense of community been more important, or relevant as it is today. We are really proud of our heritage and wanted to show how much we care about the health of the UK and continue to do our very best for our customers. Throughout the past months we have seen everyone come together, in their communities, working for the greater good.

“We have listened to what people want, and are now harnessing that power of community, bringing our purpose to life, and showing everyone that they can take control of their health and also help others in the process. We all have our part to play in staying healthy and looking after each other,” Romana concluded.

Motivating people through community spirit

At a time when the country is facing even more lockdown restrictions and worries about their own health, Simplyhealth believes there is a new national understanding and empathy that the UK’s health is dependent on everyone’s actions as a whole.

To support this national desire to improve overall health in the UK, Simplyhealth has launched its new free-for-all health and wellbeing app, SimplyMe, to encourage and motivate consumers to lead healthier lives and look after their mental wellbeing.

The innovative new app recognises and understands individual’s habits and behaviours to support, nudge and provide personal motivation for each user. However, it not only looks after the user’s own health, but also rewards their healthy behaviour by giving back to communities in need.

For every download of the SimplyMe app, Simplyhealth will donate £5to help 160,000 young people facing disadvantage to stay healthy, safe, and active through sport due to a new partnership with Sported. Sported is a national charity which supports almost 3,000 community sport and youth groups across the UK.

Nicola Walker, CEO at Sported said: “Sported are delighted to be working in partnership with Simplyhealth to ensure the wellbeing of young people often living in disadvantage.

“We believe that grass roots groups have a unique role to play in engaging and inspiring young people, using sport to make a positive difference to communities and improving physical and mental health. Sported provide mentoring support for these groups, ensuring they have the resources needed to grow and thrive.

“With Simplyhealth’s generous support, we can help these extraordinary groups during this difficult time to get back up and running ensuring their future sustainability. This will ensure that over time, young people can return to safe and positive environments, be active and enjoy the best of their community,” Nicola Walker concluded.

Simplyhealth carried out research* with 2,000 UK adults and found that charitable causes could motivate the public to become healthier through exercise. 40% of respondents said that it would motivate them to exercise more if their fitness tracker or device were to raise money for a charity or community initiative in response to their efforts to improve their health.

Driving consumers to be healthier

Simplyhealth’s research revealed that people are feeling much less healthy than before the pandemic and are concerned about their mental wellbeing.

• 42% feel their physical fitness has suffered
• 42% feel their mental health has suffered
• 38% have found it more difficult to sleep
• 19% are less healthy than before the pandemic

Of those who have become less healthy during the pandemic:

• 38% are less active
• 29% are eating more junk food
• 26% are drinking more alcohol

However, despite this, the majority (62%) of people believe they will be more proactive about looking after their health and wellbeing in the future.

Simplyhealth believes the SimplyMe app will encourage people to make small easy steps to better health and wellness. Users can monitor data on their BMI, emotional wellbeing, sleep, and heart rate, and identify personalised changes to help them improve their physical and mental health.

One of the biggest challenges to health is lack of motivation, with nearly half of respondents (48%) saying that willpower is a major barrier to health improvement.

When asked what could make a difference in getting them back to good health, 51% of those surveyed said technology will play a key role, with fitness trackers, smart watches, and apps being seen as helpful in motivating people to improve their health and wellbeing. Younger consumers in particular (67% of Millennials) think fitness trackers, smart watches or apps can help to improve a person’s health.

To find out more about SimplyMe, visit www.simplyhealth.co.uk/simplyme.

*Source: This survey was carried out by Deltapoll on the behalf of Simplyhealth and surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,082 UK adults, August 2020.