How digital health is transforming accessibility and equity
Accessibility can be one of the biggest barriers to employees making use of their health and wellbeing benefits.
Pluxee UK estimates that 26% of patients have to wait over a week to see their NHS GP.
Furthermore, employees often take half a day off work when they attend their appointment if you factor in travelling to their local surgery and the additional waiting time.
The evolving workplace needs personalised and accessible health solutions.
Digital health innovations
These break down barriers to timely and accessible care, helping employees get the medical support they need without leaving their homes or offices.
Gen Z and emerging Gen Alpha have been consuming tech since they were old enough to hold a tablet. They expect instant access and gratification, and digital health innovations satisfy this need, removing anxiety and getting employees on the path to health faster.
Digital health platforms
These speed up access to a GP, and since they can prescribe medication, can often bypass the need for a physical appointment.
Depending on the issue, an online GP may recommend a follow-up appointment at a surgery since they can’t do a complete physical examination via screen. Still, in most cases, online GPs can nip the issue in the bud in a twenty-minute appointment.
App-based solutions
You’d be hard-pressed to find an employee in your business who doesn’t have a smartphone. Even those who choose not to use their personal phones for work will likely be happy to download a digital health app.
App-based platforms meet employees wherever they are, allowing them to access information and make appointments without making a phone call. They can even hold the appointment from their smartphone. All they need is access to the internet.
Giving employees access via their smartphones makes digital healthcare benefits accessible for all, including deskless workers.
Motivation, gamification and personalisation
It’s well known in the HR and benefits space that providing employees with a solution isn’t always enough to make them use it. Much of it comes down to awareness, education and changing habits.
Most often, the GPs working for the digital health providers are practising NHS GPs who also do private work, so your employees are in safe hands.
Beyond digital health platforms, app-based mental wellbeing services, included as part of an EAP, provide access to a hub of resources and personalisation tools that motivate employees to adopt healthier lifestyles.
Interactive tools, like journalling, mood trackers and challenges, also make the apps more enjoyable, becoming part of employees’ daily lives.
Encouraging uptake to make an impact
Providing inclusive and accessible solutions is vital, but the awareness and education piece must also meet employees where they are.
In its case study for the University of Salford, Pluxee UK shares how the university’s benefits and reward team reformed the universal, digital approach and went back to basics to raise awareness.
When a large portion of your workforce is deskless, digital communications often pass them by. The Estates Division of the university was missing out on its financial, physical and mental wellbeing benefits and not participating in its recognition programme.
Face-to-face workshops during work time may have meant more work in the short term, but this equitable approach yielded long-term results, with the Estates Division becoming one of the most active on the platform.
This is the thing to remember with a digital solution. While it makes accessibility easier overall, relying entirely on digital communication could exclude some employees. To truly make an impact, you need to apply the concept of meeting employees where they are – quite literally.
Keep equity at the heart of your wellbeing strategy by combining a digital and physical communications strategy to give every employee the opportunity to live healthier lives.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Pluxee UK
Pluxee UK, is a leading employee benefits and engagement partner that opens up a world of opportunities to help people enjoy more of what really matters in their lives.
