Integrating Well-being and Risk Management 

By Judith Ndaba, Co-Founder and Senior Operations Manager, Elevate Life 

In the evolving landscape of life insurance and health management, Elevate Life is breaking new ground by combining customer well-being with effective risk management.  

As a Co-Founder and Senior Operations Manager at Elevate Life, I’m excited to share how our ElevateMe Customer Portal facilitates this integration, providing personalised health insights and proactive risk mitigation for our clients. 

The Role of the ElevateMe Customer Portal 

Our Customer Portal is central to our approach: designed to keep our life insurance clients’ information up-to-date and comprehensive. By choosing to share their wellness data in the portal, clients can benefit financially and experientially from Elevate Rewards – as a standard part of our offering.  The integrated data can include a person’s ongoing medical scheme claims, their financial data, credit report, and data from wearable devices. By linking these sources, the portal offers a secure, consolidated view of each client’s measurable well-being. 

Clients can choose the data sources they feel comfortable to share in order to earn Elevate Rewards. This comprehensive data integration allows us to provide a holistic visual representation of each client’s well-being. Personalised educative wellness goals are then set each month that are customised, based on the client’s historical data – highlighting areas where risk can be minimised through specific lifestyle changes. 

For example, for someone leading a sedentary lifestyle, we might recommend starting with 3000 steps per day to reduce their risk. Or we could advise them to contain their spend within their earnings. This personalised prompt is designed to help clients see long-term health benefits, make better decisions, and ultimately lead longer, healthier, more financially secure lives. And for extra motivation, we repay them up to 35% of their life premiums back in cash – monthly, based on their behaviour in the preceding month. 

Encouraging Data Sharing and Up-to-date Information 

One of the challenges we face is ensuring that clients enable the syncing of their data. Wearable devices are popular, and people are keen to engage with them – often using the data to validate their exercise routines and feel good about their achievements. This behaviour, while positive, does not significantly shift health outcomes on its own. The real benefits come from linking all possible data sources to get a full picture of an individual’s health. This is why we focus on multiple dimensions (lifestyle, clinical, and financial health) all syncing and visualised in one place to show a holistic view of a client’s well-being. Such a comprehensive view is a first of its kind anywhere in the world. 

Our AI-driven system then analyses this data, providing personalised feedback and goals, that are, above all, achievable. Over time, we can reach out to clients proactively if we detect concerning trends in their health data and suggest preventative measures, for example, if someone’s data indicates a rising risk of cardiovascular issues. This proactive approach is a significant step towards personalised health management and risk reduction. 

Trends and Engagement with the ElevateMe Customer Portal 

Interestingly, our data reveals that older generations, particularly those over the age of 50, are among the most active users of our portal. Perhaps they are more acutely aware of their health risks and motivated to use the portal to improve their well-being and manage their morbidity. This demographic may be more engaged than younger users because they recognise the immediate benefits of proactive health management. 

Initially, we noticed a reluctance among some clients to link financial data, although this is crucial for achieving a comprehensive view of their health and well-being. But we see this as a trust journey. Over time, as clients recognise the value of this integration and the benefits of managing their integrated well-being – with no risk of penalty or impact on their policies with us – the discomfort should ease, and the experience be elevated. 

The incentive is significant as a repayment of up to 35% of their life insurance premium can be achieved every month, providing a strong motivation to engage fully with the portal.

Unique Integration of Wearables 

One of the standout features of our portal is its ability to integrate data from various wearable devices. Whether it’s a Suunto for cycling, a Garmin for running, or a Fitbit for steps, we bring all this data together to give a complete view of an individual’s fitness. This integration is seamless, allowing users to see how all their activities contribute to their overall health. This holistic approach is unique in the market and offers significant benefits to our clients. 

Personalisation is at the heart of our Customer Portal: insights from any aspect of well-being affect the others. For example, if clinical data indicates that someone is currently hospitalised due to injury or illness, rehabilitation would be a more meaningful physical goal than step counts. Our AI algorithms adapt dynamically to the comprehensive view created of each life insured. And they will continue learning. Being led by evidence is key to our philosophy. 

The ElevateMe Customer Portal is at the forefront of combining well-being and risk management. By providing a comprehensive, personalised view of health data, we empower our clients to take proactive steps towards better long-term health.  

As we continue to refine and expand our AI capabilities, we look forward to offering even more precise and actionable health insights.