I believe everyone has the power to take control of their health — whether they’re trying to lose weight or manage chronic conditions like obesity or diabetes, or simply want to get in better shape to chase the kids around the yard. It’s why I started Vida Health, to make it possible for anyone to have their own personal health coach to help them optimize their health and work toward their goals every day.
My Dad died of a heart attack too young caused by obesity, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. My father’s journey had a profound effect on me — shaping how I view health and care for myself. It taught me about the connection between mind and body and how integral eating right and exercising are to one’s daily success. My morning workouts are my meditation, stress buster and brain booster. I take care of myself to avoid the diseases that plagued my father, but also to feel my best and achieve more.
How do we actually reverse our $3 trillion healthcare spend and sick care approach in the US? We make it affordable for everyone to have a health coach.
The answer lies in coupling technology with a human touch.
Vida pairs individuals with a human health coach who is an expert in behavior change and knowledgeable in the area of need, whether it’s nutrition, weight loss, fitness, diabetes, stress management or other topics and conditions. You can talk to your coach in real-time using text, voice or video; access evidenced-based clinical programs such as Weight Loss, Diabetes Prevention, Hypertension, and Exercise programs; connect to a community of support, which can include other people, coaches, family members, doctors, etc. Vida connects to over 100 apps and devices as well, pulling in personal data from a variety of sources, including lab and claims data, to create a personalized experience.
One of the most profound benefits of Vida’s approach for patients with chronic conditions is having someone — a coach — in their corner to provide monitoring, guidance, accountability and social support in between doctor visits. As one person struggling with being overweight and hypertension told us, “It feels like I’m part of team. (My coach) supports me and I feel accountable.” In a matter of months, he was able to lose 40 pounds and reduce his “bad” cholesterol by 79 points. Another customer who reversed their pre-diabetes, says “Vida has helped me lose weight, get off medications, no longer be pre-diabetic, reduce my stress and think more positively.”
Partnering with Thrive Global
We are very excited that Vida has been chosen to participate in Thrive Global’s launch both online and in their pop-up store in New York. As we continue to reach out to consumers both directly and through employer health programs, we value opportunities to add to the conversation about health and well-being, and offer a convenient, affordable solution that meets consumers where they are with what they need to live their healthiest lives. As part of the Thrive Global launch, Vida is offering a program that enables you to “Thrive Through the Holidays”, combining Vida coaching and exercise videos from Daily Burn. This 3-month program focuses on weight loss, stress reduction and exercise to help you be your best self this holiday season. Specifically, this 90-day program offers weekly nutrition, stress and exercise tips, your own personal Vida Coach, access to Daily Burn video library, syncing your devices and apps to share your data with your Coach, a Vida Facebook group, and the opportunity to win an Apple Watch just in time for the holidays. Get started now at www.vida.com/deals/dailyburn.
About the Author:
Based in San Francisco, Stephanie Tilenius is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vida Health.
Vida Health is a mobile first platform for wellness and chronic care that helps people prevent, manage and reverse chronic conditions like obesity, pre-diabetes, diabetes, hypertension, mental health issues, etc. The service pairs an individual on a 1:1 basis with a human coach who guides him or her through evidence-based clinical programs. Utilizing data from connections to over 100 apps and devices, Vida is able to create a personalized approach to each individual. Vida is deployed at employers, payers and providers. Vida has demonstrated clear evidence of driving health outcomes and works with medical institutions such as Partners Healthcare, Stanford, Duke and MD Anderson. Vida’s partnership with United Healthcare was mentioned here recently: http://mobihealthnews.com/content/coaching-app-vida-helped-58-percent-unitedhealthcare-cohort-lose-weight
Originally published at medium.com