Sharecare, a digital health company, has a new workplace-focused VR fitness program for the Meta Quest 2.
Sharecare announced the Get Active program today, which the company says is a way for employers to encourage employee fitness.
The company says the new app utilizes VR’s immersive nature to offer a fun, approachable, and accessible fitness routine.
Sharecare launched a pilot program for Get Active with the Lennar Corporation home building company in 2022.
According to Sharecare, Get Active has produced good results among healthy and high-risk Associates.
Lennar CMO, Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt says the company believes in empowering the workforce to be fit for adaptibility.
Dr. Goldschmidt says physical activity is crucial to achieving that goal.
“While I was optimistic going into this pilot, engagement across the board exceeded our expectations and feedback from our highest risk Associates has been very positive,” says Dr. Goldschmidt. “Sharecare has demonstrated its continued commitment to innovation and driving sustained employee engagement, and we are excited to expand Get Active to more Lennar Associates this year.”
Bodies in Motion Tend to Stay Healthier
Sharecare says physical activity helps improve sleep and reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and chronic disease risk.
Sharecare also says exercise can reverse pre-diabetes, which, according to the CDC, affects one out of every three American adults.
According to Sharecare, more than 80 percent of people with pre-diabetes don’t know they have it.
The CDC estimates that ten minutes of daily exercise can potentially prevent up to 110,000 deaths annually.
Additionally, people who exercise regularly tend to have lower healthcare costs.
Sharecare says health plans and self-insured employers strive to increase members’ wellness offering usage, but generally have low sustained engagement.
The Get Active app focuses on engaging employees in physical activity through the exercise by accident concept.
The concept relies on a convenient and gamified movement experience with the Quest 2.
Sharecare says Get Active removes discomfort barriers for disabled users who may not be comfortable with public gyms.
Seated and standing activities in Get Active include stretching, ping pong, basketball, and fending off zombies.
“We have a strong track record of investing in innovation, including VR, to improve our comprehensive well-being platform and the employee experience, and the initial feedback on Get Active from Lennar’s associates is both encouraging and inspiring,” says Sharecare SVP of Health Advocacy William Janis. “We are excited to differentiate our whole health benefits offering on behalf of our partners and their populations with a unique and approachable program that’s fun and naturally engaging for employees of all fitness levels while improving outcomes and reducing costs.”
Get Active, Get Healthy
Sharecare says the 2022 pilot with the Lennar Corporation generated promising results for Associates with cancer, diabetes, and other conditions.
High-risk participant engagement was 82 percent, with a 280 percent increase in weekly exercise minutes per person compared to pre-program.
Following the pilot’s success, Lennar is making Get Active a core offering for eligible Associates in 2023.
This month, Get Active is available for Sharecare employer customers to incorporate into workplace well-being and health benefit platform configurations.
The company says it will work with client partners interested in the Get Active program for their workforce to stratify the eligible population.
The company says family advocates will work with Sharecare+ enrollees to register eligible members in the program.
Enrolled members will receive a Meta Quest 2 VR headset and an exercise program with recommendations for movement-related apps.
Participants can use the headset to count activity minutes and synchronize them with time spent exercising in VR.
The Sharecare app will track activity data for weekly and monthly movement goals and employer-sponsored reward programs.
Interested parties can contact Sharecare via email for information about its digital therapeutics and program enrollment.
Image: Sharecare