AXA releases health tech survey data
AXA has released the results of its Health Tech & You State of the Nation survey, which was conducted by YouGov and took in responses from workers in the UK regarding their willingness to adopt health technology in order to manage mental health conditions.
AXA has released the results of its Health Tech & You State of the Nation survey, which was conducted by YouGov and took in responses from workers in the UK regarding their willingness to adopt health technology in order to manage mental health conditions.
The survey found that 41 per cent of British workers have experienced mental health issues in the workplace, and that 51 per cent would be prepared to utilise some variety of wearable health tech device to detect early symptoms – if the device were provided by their employer, free of charge. In the event that employers were willing to supply such devices, 45 per cent of employees also said that they would be happy for their health information to be shared in order to boost the efficacy of wellbeing strategies.
Not everybody was comfortable with the idea, however, and of those who preferred not to utilise health tech, 69 per cent were primarily concerned about the possibility of workplace discrimination, and uncomfortable with the idea of their employer knowing intimate details of their health and lifestyle. Were this information to be anonymised, however, 50 per cent said that they would be comfortable sharing data with their employee.
The survey also found that while 52 per cent of employees who had suffered from mental health issues in the workplace had not felt able to discuss it with their employer, 71 per cent of those who had opted to discuss it had been well supported.
“Familiarity with smartphones and other consumer tech means people already have tools in their hands to think about supporting their wellbeing,” commented Julia Manning, Founding Director of 2020health and chairperson of the recent AXA Health Tech & You Roundtable, where health tech trends were discussed. “Some good points were made in the discussion about the need for leaders in the workplace to use and champion evidence-based digital health before it can be seen as ‘something for me’. Given the huge unmet need in society for mental health support, if we can get to a place where it is normal, beneficial and safe to utilise digital mental health tools, then I would hope this would build confidence in self-management of wellbeing.”