LIVING Well:

Tapping into Health Attitudes

to Propel Lifestyle Changes
The Consumer Health Mindset: Turn Good Intentions into Great Outcomes
Aon Hewitt, National Business Group on Health, & The Futures Company

1.

LIVING Well:
Tapping into Health Attitudes
to Propel Lifestyle Changes

ealth is increasingly on
consumers radars. Americans
are demonstrating new levels of
personal accountability (83% of
consumers agree that making
smart choices in my everyday
lifei.e, eating right, exercising,
not smokingwill lead to good
health1).
With
employees
contributing 42% more for
health plan coverage than they
did five years ago, opportunities
to effectively engage people
in their health and wellness to
improve health outcomes are
ripe with possibility.
Employers, insurers, and providers are also displaying commitment to address the enormous
challenges facing our country and our collective future.

What can these

stakeholders do to
manage costs?
How does one
effectively reach
and engage people
to make lifestyle
changes that lead
to better health?

Attitudinal Segments
The Futures Company has been studying consumer attitudes and
values toward health and wellness for nearly a decade through
our Health and Wellness MONITOR. While consumers have
generally been demonstrating greater awareness and desire for
healthier lifestyles, lack of time, willpower and money are cited
as barriers to making healthy choicesand sticking to them2.
These factors, along with competing priorities from social and
external environments (such as family and work), make health
maintenance difficult despite the best of intentions.
However, amidst these universal trends, not all consumers
share the same attitudes and values towards health - and they
demonstrate very different health profiles as a result. More
importantly, they differ in their levels of engagement, and need
different strategies to address their health effectively.

1. The Consumer Health Mindset: Turn Good Intentions into Great Outcomes, Aon Hewitt, NBGH and The Futures Company 2012, pp. 9
2. The Futures Company Health and Wellness MONITOR Research (2005-2011)

2.

LIVING Well, The Futures Companys health and wellness

attitudinal segmentation, differentiates six unique segments by
their health status, perceived control over their health, attitudes
and behaviors toward health prevention, and information-seeking
preferences3.
Created as a health engagement framework from our years of
consumer research, LIVING Well has helped employers, health
insurers, and providers understand critical differences between
consumers. Understanding these differences allows stakeholders
to develop effective ways to reach consumers, change behaviors,
improve health outcomes, and drive down healthcare costsall by
differentiating engagement strategies tailored to each segment.

The LIVING Well Segments

Leading The
Way

In It For Fun

Value
Independence

I Need A Plan

Not Right Now

Get Through
The Day

Six Unique
Segments that
can be
matched to
your database

Health
Engagement
Health
Challenge

General
Attitudes and
Behaviors

LIVING Well
Segment
Sizes3

Positive
Attitude

Competitive

Skeptical

Risk-avoidant

Stressed

Discouraged

Desire to
improve health

Goal-oriented

Self-reliant

Undisciplined

Familyoriented

Poor health

Taking action
to improve
health

Social

Presentoriented

Seek advice

Younger

Cash-strapped

17%

20%

17%

13%

10%

3. The Futures Company Health and Wellness MONITOR 2011

3.

23%

Different Strokes for Different Folks

An example of this
differentiation can be seen in
our recent study with NBGH
and Aon Hewitt4. Almost half of
all employees surveyed cited
time as the greatest barrier
to making healthy choices,
but the response rate varied
considerably across the LIVING
Well segments:

LACK OF TIME TO EAT RIGHT, EXERCISE, GO TO THE DOCTOR, ETC:

49%

TOTAL

45%

Leading the Way

In it for Fun

38%
60%

Value Independence

53%

I Need a Plan

54%

Not Right Now

Get Through the Day

Are incentives
necessary to
follow through?
LIVING Well
identifies who
prefers incentives
to encourage
healthy choices.

36%
Likewise, when it comes to motivations for healthier lifestyles,
the LIVING Well segments differentiate on key factors. Certain
segments are driven intrinsically by the desire to look good, or feel
healthy or have higher energy levels, while others are motivated by
their doctors, their families or by fears of ill health5.
So, are incentives necessary to follow through? LIVING Well identifies
who prefers incentives to encourage healthy choices, with Leading
the Way and I Need a Plan stating they are more likely to do certain
healthy behaviors without the benefit of a reward. In essence,
because health is a core value, they tend to not need incentives to
participate in some healthy behaviors6.
Conversely, Not Right Now and Get Through the Day tend to be more
motivated by monetary rewards (60% and 57% respectively) and
are willing to complete a confidential questionnaire asking about
health-related activities compared to 53% of Leading the Way7.

4. The Consumer Health Mindset: Turn Good Intentions into Great Outcomes, Aon Hewitt, NBGH and The Futures Company, 2012
5. The Futures Company Health and Wellness MONITOR Research (2005-2011)
6. The Consumer Health Mindset: Turn Good Intentions into Great Outcomes, Aon Hewitt, NBGH and The Futures Company, 2012
7. The Consumer Health Mindset: Turn Good Intentions into Great Outcomes, Aon Hewitt, NBGH and The Futures Company, 2012

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I WOULD DO THIS FOR THE BENEFIT OF DOING IT

NO REWARD NECESSARY8.
Have your blood drawn and tested for cholesterol, glucose, and other
important health measures (done during work hours)

55%

I Need a Plan
TOTAL

49%

Participate in fitness (e.g., exercise, yoga, meditation) program 23 days per

week or one hour during non-work hours.

49%

Leading the Way

TOTAL

How to inspire and

encourage behavior
change with LIVING
Well.

39%

Making a Difference by Recognizing Differences9

What are some other factors that inspire behavior change, and how
might employers, providers, and insurers act on this understanding?

Promote the taking of a Health Risk Questionnaire (HRQ).

44% of employees who took a Health Risk Questionnaire (HRQ)
claim to have made at least one lifestyle improvement afterwards.
Among I Need A Plan, a group that is lacking in follow-through, half
carried out a lifestyle change compared to just 34% of Not Right
Now, a group that places their own health on the backburner. One
out of five of those surveyed said they shared their HRQ results
with a medical professional, with 25% of Get Through the Daythe
chronically health-challengedresponding that they did so.

Recognize that the majority of people deem themselves the

experts on their own health, but other influencers do weigh in.
More than six out of ten believe their own view of how they feel
is a primary influencer of health action. Over 73% of Value
Independencethe exceedingly independent segmentrely upon
themselves to make that call.
However, 65% of all workers also rely upon the advice of their doctor;
in particular, I Need A Plan (77%) prefer for their doctors to guide
their decisions.
8. The Consumer Health Mindset: Turn Good Intentions into Great Outcomes, Aon Hewitt, NBGH and The Futures Company, 2012
9. The Consumer Health Mindset: Turn Good Intentions into Great Outcomes, Aon Hewitt, NBGH and The Futures Company, 2012

5.

Use technology and mobile health tools to reach people.

While about one in five employees uses apps, over 1/3 would use
mobile apps for health and wellness activities. I Need A Plan (50%),
who seek multiple ways to gather information and keep themselves
on track, and In It For Fun (46%), a highly social, tech-savvy segment
that uses mobile apps for the cool factor, are two groups likely to
be receptive to mobile health tools.

Create a culture of health; find ways to alleviate stress by

helping consumers better manage the healthcare process.
A third of workers stated that their stress levels have increased
over the past year. Over half (57%) of both I Need A Plan and Not
Right Now feel highly stressed, and link stress to having a direct
impact on their health.
Find ways to alleviate stress in the workplace by creating a
culture of health and empowering workers to openly participate.
Encourage workers to take earned vacation time, provide
guidance for health plan choices, and provide ways to engage
easily in being healthy.

Building on the Momentum

Increasing awareness, rising costs, poorer health and marketplace
shifts in the healthcare landscape are converging to push
consumers into higher levels of accountability and employers/
insurers/providers into more concerted efforts to increase
health engagement. By understanding how people differentiate
in their accountability, their motivations and their barriers, you
can enable more effective engagement strategies that will propel
people to make lifestyle changes that can make a real difference
in their lives.
For more information on LIVING Well or
The Consumer Mindset Report , please visit:
http://thefuturescompany.com/health-and-wellness/
For more information on The Futures Company, contact:
Colleen.Sharp@thefuturescompany.com, 919-932-8632
For more information on Aon Hewitt, please visit:
www.aonhewitt.com.

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