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Planning to live till 100: How S'poreans are using tech to keep healthy
Three in four respondents, aged between 25 and 65, are already skilled at using mobile health apps to monitor their wellness, finds report commissioned by Prudential Singapore
More than half of the respondents in the survey describe mobile devices and apps as critical tools in preparing for rising longevity.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
Singaporeans are living longer, and technology will be key to helping people stay healthy as they age.
As Singapore shifts its focus from the reactive treatment of illnesses to a more preventive approach, a study commissioned by Prudential Singapore (Prudential) shows that the majority of people here are already using technology to improve their health and physical fitness.
The report, “Digital for 100: Harnessing technology for longer lifespans”, found that overall, around three in four Singapore residents aged 25 to 65 say they are proficient in using mobile health apps, from recording blood pressure and tracking diets to managing chronic diseases like diabetes. The proficiency levels are highest for wearable fitness trackers but a large majority are also comfortable with wearable health monitors and regular visits to interactive health websites.
Living till 100
The survey also shows Singapore residents are becoming increasingly confident about their ability to live till 100 while remaining healthy and financially comfortable.
Singapore has one of the world’s rapidly ageing populations: One in four citizens will be aged 65 and above by 2030, up from 18.4 per cent in 2022 and 11.1 per cent in 2012. Forty-two per cent of respondents say they are prepared for rising longevity from a health perspective, up from 31 per cent in 2021.
The report, the sixth in a series of studies to explore Singaporeans’ readiness to live to 100 that Prudential commissioned, examines the use of digital technologies to maintain a healthy lifestyle and build financial resilience.
Conducted by Economist Impact, the report surveyed 800 people in June and July 2022.
One of the report’s key findings is that more than half (54 per cent) of the respondents describe mobile devices and apps as critical tools in preparing for rising longevity.
No age barriers
While there have been concerns about a digital divide separating younger and older Singaporeans, the report showed a high level of proficiency even among the most senior working age group.
For example, the oldest (55 to 65) and youngest (25 to 34) cohorts claim similar levels of aptitude with several health technologies.
According to the survey, 73 per cent of all respondents rate themselves as “good” or “excellent” at using mobile apps to monitor their physical health, including checking calorie intake, monitoring physical activity levels and managing diabetes. The proportion was slightly higher in the 55-65 age group at 74 per cent.
Priorities differed among different age groups, however. For 25-to-34-year-olds, monitoring sleep ranked number one when asked about the importance of using digital technologies, while those in the 55-65 group cited monitoring blood pressure.
Monitoring anxiety levels
Respondents were also conscious about mental wellness, with 67 per cent using digital tools to manage their stress and anxiety levels, and monitor their moods. The proportion ranged from 55 per cent for those in the 45-54 age group to 72 per cent for those in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups.
“As taboos around discussing mental health have eroded here, consumers have become much more open to leveraging such technologies,” Ms Kavita Rekhraj, life sciences and healthcare industry leader for South-east Asia at Deloitte, says in the report.
Ms Lim Sun Sun, Professor of communication and technology at the Singapore University of Technology and Design said that the widespread use of digital technologies across different age groups is partly due to government efforts to promote health tech adoption.
For example, many Singaporeans now wear step trackers, thanks to the National Steps Challenge which incentivises people to clock in more steps in exchange for rewards such as e-vouchers.
Tech for financial wellness
While respondents say digital tools have also helped them to better manage their bank and Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts, investments and insurance needs, there is, however, a difference in familiarity among different age cohorts when it comes to using niche financial tools such as robo advisers, share trading apps and digital asset trading platforms.
For instance, more than 70 per cent of people in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups rate themselves as “good” or “excellent” in using interactive financial advice websites compared with 54 per cent for those in the 45-54 and 55-65 cohorts.
Across all age groups, more than four in five respondents say they are skilled in using mobile banking apps, while seven in 10 say they are skilled in using financial management apps.
The study has also found that age is less of a differentiator in the adoption of personal finance technologies than the willingness and openness to learning new technologies.
Says Mr Dennis Tan, CEO of Prudential Singapore: “Since the pandemic, more people have gone digital, and technology has become a core part of our lives. We need to build on this momentum by ensuring that digital technologies are simple by design so that everyone can use them easily.
“This will encourage individuals to continue using technology to take charge of their health and wealth as they get ready for a longer life,” he adds.
Feeling the Pulse with Prudential’s health and wealth app
Launched in April 2020, Pulse by Prudential is the company’s health and wellness mobile app that incorporates a suite of health and wealth solutions.
The health features on Pulse are designed to support people in their health journey to prevent, postpone and protect against the onset of chronic diseases. They include round-the-clock access to healthcare tools and real-time health information, and are in line with Singapore’s efforts to help residents take charge of their health and achieve healthy longevity.
For instance, Healthcheck, the online lifestyle assessment and disease risk prediction tool, provides advanced insights using data such as the person’s age, weight and height, diet, family history, pre-existing conditions and even hours of sleep.
Users can get a report in real-time on their overall health status along with suggestions to reduce disease risks and improve their overall well-being by filling up a digital questionnaire.
The Symptom Checker is also an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot that uses the symptoms reported to highlight possible health conditions and point the user to next steps such as “Self-care”, “Pharmacy” or “Hospital”.
To promote physical health and encourage people to maintain healthy habits, Pulse also runs Challenges that reward users for adopting a healthy lifestyle. Users can accumulate reward points that can be redeemed as vouchers with selected merchants. For instance, it launched Challenge Your Pulse – a series of walk, run, and ride geolocation-based challenges – from August to September 2022. Individual users were required to check in at various checkpoints along one of the five curated routes to complete a weekly challenge.
Users were rewarded with points which could be instantly converted to retail vouchers. They can also look forward to challenges that will be run periodically throughout the year.
Pulse will continue to connect with users and empower them to take charge of their health journey through innovative engagements.
Pulse also offers a mental wellness feature comprising a mood tracker, self-awareness quizzes, and curated content related to mental wellness, to provide users with tools and information to better understand and manage their mental health.
Users can also schedule a video consultation with a doctor at any time of the day, or get the location of the nearest clinic.
In addition, bite-sized health solutions such as insurance plans covering dengue, breast cancer and prostate cancer are available on the app to make healthcare more inclusive and accessible to all.
As for financial health, users can interact with an AI digital assistant called Ruby to embark on their financial planning journey, taking into consideration their needs, goals and aspirations. Users who require more in-depth financial planning advice can also connect with a Prudential financial consultant through Pulse.
Other features include Wealth Score, a simple tool to help users assess their current financial health and provide suggestions to improve the score, as well as a budgeting tool.
Prudential customers can get a 360-degree view of their insurance protection, savings and investment plans and change their contact details easily.
Prudential’s Pulse app is free to download for anyone aged 18 and above, and it is available from the App Store and Google Play Store. Most of the features on the app are accessible to all, including users who are not customers of Prudential.
