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Although global healthcare is in an overall state of crisis, there’s much to be positive about. Eighty-six per cent of people believe they have the power to change their own level of wellness, according to the 2012 Truth About Wellness report by ad agency McCann, while 73 per cent feel positive about their overall health and the average person now believes they will live to be 79 (in China this rises to 84). This optimism is being fuelled by a health technology revolution, which is itself being driven by escalating levels of poor lifestyle-related diseases worldwide. Technology may be the answer to some of the everyday barriers that keep us from achieving better health. The 2012 Rock Report on Fitness Technology, by tech firm Rock Health, says: “half of consumers say they would buy mobile health technology”. Their reasons included the ability to monitor fitness and wellbeing and to allow a healthcare professional to remotely monitor their condition. The new mantra of health technology is that ‘you can’t improve what you can’t measure’ and today’s consumers are infatuated with monitoring their personal statistics. For years, insurance companies, telecommunication firms and retailers have been utilising platforms and apps to engage their clients. And the health and fitness industry is a prime example of how things have taken off – according to Wireless Health and Fitness, a 2011 report by ABI Research, the market for sports and fitness apps will gross US$400m (€311m, £263m) in 2016. The rise of apps for connected wearable fitness devices will be a primary factor in the industry’s growth with ABI predicting 80 million such sensors by 2016. Elsewhere, a blog on MobiHealthNews in 2012 estimates that 80 per cent of people who exercise at least once a week and own a smartphone would pay US$140 (€109, £92) for a combined sensor and software programme. Bearing in mind how things have escalated in the fitness arena, health technology is clearly a market that is also perfectly matched to the spa industry – especially when it comes to the potential of offering wellness programmes to large corporations. Even more exciting is that as the technology becomes more sophisticated, the industry will become even more important in terms of connectivity to spa clients. But what challenges or barriers might the spa industry face and what are the solutions? And what monitoring devices and apps would be most appropriate? CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
In the McCann survey, 7,000 people reported on the top three barriers to wellbeing, which are outlined below, along with some ideas of how spas might tackle such obstacles:
Barrier one: Economics
Spa solution: Provide an affordable online take home spa solution, such as an easy to follow yoga guide, that seamlessly integrates your brand into the client’s everyday wellness efforts until their next visit
Barrier two: Time
Spa solution: Create a spa-branded app that integrates on-the-go lifestyle choices that fit into a busy schedule – ie daily message reminders to breathe, drink more fluids, or walk when possible
Barrier three: Willpower
Spa solution: Focus on mobile solutions that motivate users towards healthy alternatives to unhealthy behaviours. David Kirchhoff, the CEO of Weight Watchers, was recently quoted as saying: “You have to start making healthy choices easy and automatic... willpower is completely overrated, it just doesn’t deliver”. Significantly, the company has introduced an online programme and app including a healthy shopping guide, community forums and reminder messages, that makes healthy choices easier for the user. The spa industry faces some additional challenges to the traditional healthcare model. It has limited time with the client and lacks the ability to monitor them after they leave. The solution here would be to develop (or white label) a real-time device/app/or platform that tracks lifestyle stats and the steps towards the client’s goals. There is the difficulty of remote monitoring spa clients’ personal data. The answer? To connect activity trackers, weight scales, blood pressure cuffs, and even glucose monitors to the cloud for data sharing. DEVICES
The device market is growing rapidly and consumers are becoming educated through the press about the advantages of tracking their daily lifestyle activities. Retailing devices offers the spa an additional revenue stream but more importantly an opportunity to stay connected to the client after they leave the spa. Data from the following devices can be sent to and viewed on a spa’s private labelled platform reminding the client daily of your brand. Tinké
This iPhone-based monitor, retailing for US$119 (€93, £78), measures blood oxygen, respiratory rate and heart rate variability when a person presses their thumb onto a device that plugs into the phone. Tinké’s Zen Index is then used to measure a person’s stress and helps them to manage it via suggested deep breathing exercises.
Details: www.zensorium.com/tinke Fitbit Flex
Fitbit’s new Flex wristband, sold for US$100 (€78, £67), features LED lights indicating how daily steps and calories burned stack up to personal goals. It also has the ability to record the number of hours slept and quality of sleep. Stats are uploaded in real-time to iPhone and Android phones. FitBit’s data can be sent to a spa website to allow for a more tailored programme on their next visit. Details: www.fitbit.com/flex Basis B1
This wristband aims to provide a precise view of a person’s health immediately and over extended periods. It includes a heart rate detector, a 3D accelerometer, a body temperature sensor to measure exertion and a galvanic skin response sensor to record sweat output. The band, which costs US$199 (€155, £131), can link to a web dashboard for easy viewing, sharing and engagement. Details: www.mybasis.com Salutron SmartHealth C200 and C400
Physiological monitors in these wristbands, which retail for US$59.99 (€47, £40) and US$89.99 (€70, £59), collect heart rate, calorie, and step activity. They have screens that enable users to view a week’s worth of records and they’re also able to capture, hold and wirelessly transmit data to smartphones and branded platforms making the device a good match for a spa wellness programme. Details: www.smarthealthusa.com BodyMedia Core 2
A smaller, more stylish, waterproof version of its first armband with the option of continuously recording heart rate. Priced at US$150 (€117, £99), it still offers the same four FDA-cleared sensors focused on skin temperature, heat flux, galvanic skin response, and a three-axis accelerometer. The Core 2 also has Bluetooth connectivity, allowing BodyMedia data to be uploaded to a smartphone app in real-time. Details: www.bodymedia.com Watch out for…
BodyMedia and Avery Dennison are continuing to develop Vue Patch, a disposable sensor patch worn on the back of the upper arm continuously (including to bed and in the shower) for seven days. The waterproof patch has a micro-USB port for uploading the data after the patch has been removed, but future versions will be Bluetooth-enabled. The patch “offers a comfortable, economical way to gather physiological data for health and wellness initiatives.” There are also many devices coming on the market that monitor weight, BMI, blood pressure, sleep and blood glucose. Withings’ Smart Body Analyzer, for example, is an all-in-one measurement system for weight, heart rate, BMI and body fat. The scale syncs with wi-fi to upload readings and communicates with an app that tracks progress. “Sleep more soundly”, Withings says, with the air-quality monitor, which notifies you when to open a window and get air circulating. Meanwhile, the Zeo Sleep Monitor tracks the quality of sleep and then gives personalised advice (sleep coaching) to help you improve it. Choosing brands that ‘connect’ the collected information with a spa app or platform, will allow monitoring of the client after they leave the spa. PLATFORMS AND APPs
The white labelling of online wellness platforms and apps goes beyond the opportunity to continue a relationship with a client after a visit. Having a spa brand and philosophy – not to mention the visuals – in front of the client on a daily basis provides a conduit to send spa promotions and events along with new spa product announcements. Combining in-spa services with at-home tracking of sleep, stress, nutrition and activity gives clients a complete wellbeing package. Optionally, the data can be used to quantify the success of programmes. The following platforms offer unique ways for spa brands to connect with customers. SelfOptima
This customisable web-based platform, used by operators such as Rancho La Peurta, enables spas to offer holistic health assessments and scoring in all lifestyle areas including physical, nutritional, emotional, prevention and toxin-free living. The site can be branded to allow the user to choose a spa’s products, therapists and personal coaching, as well as on- and off-site workshops and services before and after visits. Details: www.selfoptima.com +en programmes
Launching in mid-2013, the +en Weight Management and +en Well programmes are based on users accumulating credits towards a daily goal (+en) by eating and doing things that positively impact their health, like eating fruit or going for a walk. Likewise, credits are deducted for consuming bad foods or being sedentary. The credits are assigned based on age, height, weight and gender and users receive an online health assessment and tracking to help them see where they are compared to the health recommendations – and how they can bridge the gaps. Spa white labelling is available. Details: [email protected] Dacadoo
The Dacadoo online platform (for mobile viewing) and app allows users to track their fitness, nutrition and health stats. Stress and sleep will be added in the future. The platform, which can be white labelled by a spa, enables people to share activities with friends, create and enter challenges, and set goals. The platform calculates a person’s Quentiq health score – an indication of their health on a scale of one to 1,000. The score is based on medical and emotional surveys, personal stats (blood values and body metrics), and activity. Using wi-fi, fitness activity, weight and blood pressure monitor data, can be uploaded to affect the score. Details: www.dacadoo.com GetHealth
GetHealth is a mobile and online platform that helps people improve their health through social interaction and gameplay with their family and friends. The user checks in to earn points in three categories: move, munch and mind (focused on de-stressing) and at the end of each week, they receive a progress report. ‘Motifications’ are sent via phone to keep people engaged. An affordable corporate version of the programme, including reports to measure return on investment, is available. Details: www.gethealthapp.com Beyond spa walls
This year will bring a new wave of apps and platforms enabling connectivity to clients. Many consumers still think of wellness as something that only exists in certain places and at isolated times. A spa visit fits that profile. If we want to create a broader vision for the industry’s future then spa wellness must extend beyond the spa walls and into a 24/7 model that’s seen as a life long journey, not a short-term goal.
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