Prudential Hong Kong Limited (“Prudential”) today released the findings of the “Prudential Hong Kong Smart Health COVID-19 Study 2020”^, which revealed that while more people have prioritised health over wealth due to the pandemic, their health behaviours and the significant protection gap in Hong Kong suggest otherwise. However, with the increasing acceptance of digital solutions, all-in-one digital health management tools could play a role in bridging these gaps.
Health behaviours of Hong Kongers do not live up to their aspiration
While 83% of respondents are now prioritising health over wealth as opposed to just 60% in the pre-COVID period, Hongkongers’ health behaviours do not live up to their aspiration. 88% of respondents do not have enough exercise according to global guidelines[1], while 21% said they do not exercise at all. Additionally, the top five stress relievers for the pandemic are watching drama series/movies (41%), sleeping (41%), exercising (33%), eating and drinking (32%), and playing online games/web-surfing (32%), most of which are inert activities.
The study has also found that Hongkongers have minimised or avoided physical visits for medical services during the pandemic, including dental treatment services (57%), medical consultation – Western Medicine (50%), Traditional Chinese Medicine (43%), and physiotherapy (43%).
On the other hand, only 18% of respondents believed that they are sufficiently insured and only 14% believed they have sufficient emergency funds (e.g., savings or insurance) for medical needs, indicating that a huge protection gap still exists in the market.
“While the pandemic has prompted people to focus more on health, many of us tend not to take action until it is too late. By leveraging health technology, we want to partner with everyone in their health journey to prevent, postpone and protect against the onset of diseases which are often linked to lifestyle choices,” said Priscilla Ng, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer, Prudential.
Significant increase in digital adoption and increase in telemedicine services
The pandemic has led to a significant increase in digital adoption. There is a surge in the usage of digital solutions especially for online classes (70%), online shopping (65%) and online food delivery services (60%).
Many Hongkongers are also using digital health management apps, with the most popular being exercise trackers (50%), yoga/ home work out apps (38%), and heartbeat/pulse rate monitor (31%). 41% of non-users are interested in using one-stop health apps in the future.
There is also a growing interest among respondents to explore telemedicine services, citing appointment booking, virtual queuing and payment (75%), prescribed medicine delivery (69%), virus testing (63%), follow-up consultation (54%), and online/remote Western Medicine consultation (51%) as the most popular services.
Priscilla Ng, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer, Prudential said, “We see a trend towards a preference for holistic digital health solutions in the market. An indicator of this trend is the rising interest in Pulse by Prudential, an all-in-one AI-powered digital health app. Since its launch in March 2020, Pulse have already recorded over 500,000 downloads in Hong Kong.”
“Pulse is an evolving digital ecosystem with many value-added features and services in the pipeline to encourage a more proactive approach about preventative healthcare. Our goal is to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for everyone.” Ng added.
Independently conducted by Hong Kong Productivity Council and sponsored by Prudential, the survey aims at studying how the pandemic has affected the health and wellness of Hong Kong citizens, and how it has changed the people’s lifestyle, as well as their attitudes towards health management and digital application. 1,516 Hong Kong citizens aged between 20 and 54 were interviewed via an online questionnaire between November and December 2020.
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