Humana Well-being:
2018 Annual Report
Health alone isn’t what’s important. It’s how we feel and what we can do with better health that give it a special place in our well-being journey. Purpose, belonging, and security all have a direct effect on health, and in 2018, we’re realizing just how important a whole-person approach really is.
Randy’s bucket list: Mountains. Check. Better health. Check. Grand Canyon. Check.
What was behind Jeffrey’s turnaround this year? Lifestyle changes and determination.
Could one person’s health journey save the life of another? Nicole says yes.
Everyone knows health and well-being go together like peas and carrots. But when it comes to measuring health, and how it fits into our well-being, there’s more to it than one may realize. To feel our best and live the life we love, it has as much to do with lifestyle and behaviors as it does biometric scores and lab results.
At Humana, we know that health happens wherever we live, work and play—and we support this with a culture and environment that openly encourages health. So how did we do in 2018?
Emotionally and spiritually, our health is stronger. Even though we have room to improve with our Mentally Unhealthy Days, a strong and successful year for Humana, combined with collective care and support, proved to have a positive effect on our perceived stress levels—36.4% of us reported elevated stress, down from 44.3% in 2017. Although stress fluctuates from year to year based on life events, resilience is key to making each year a good one.
Physically, we’ve shown some wins and some losses. Biometric risks and tobacco use were down in 2018, while our weekly physical activity was up (go team!). However, the number of us who are overweight or obese increased to 74.7%—the highest it’s been since 2012. We’re also not quite as engaged with Go365 as we were last year, and the gap between our average Go365 Age and our actual age ticked up to 3.47 years.
Optimism and empowerment are two keys to good health. When we’re optimistic, we experience 10% fewer biometric risks and 46% lower average stress, while those who report low levels of empowerment were more likely to have higher stress and more Mentally Unhealthy Days.
Overall, we have fewer health risks than we did last year, and since 2012, 36% of us have reduced our risks! Still, there’s definitely room to improve. Keeping an eye on these few simple health numbers can help avoid or slow the progression of certain chronic diseases. Below you’ll find more than just the data we’ve collected—you’ll also find resources for real, concrete ways to address your health and improve your well-being. Check it out!
Below is a breakdown of our number of risks by percentage. With just 9% of us with zero risks and over 20% with 5 or more risks, knowing a personal next best step and taking it can lead to better health.
Check out tips for maintaining a healthy weight, as being overweight and obese can increase the risk of developing the following conditions: coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, osteoarthritis, and some cancers.
Blood glucose results can be impacted by many factors (fasting, variation in the analyzer, diet, physical activity leading up to the test, dehydration, etc.). Lifestyle programs like Humana’s Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and Fitbit Plus can help with managing the glucose risk for developing diabetes and heart disease.
With some ups and downs in our blood pressure results over the past few years, benefits like no-cost preventive medicines make it easier to keep our blood pressure in check and have helped 20% of us move from a hypertension risk in 2012 to normal levels in 2018!
In 2018, our top three sources of perceived stress were work, money and family responsibilities. We have many resources available to help with our resilience, including Bea’s Building Resilience and Optimism videos, Take10, and Humana’s EAP & WorkLife.
Many of us know that Go365 makes it fun and easy to live healthier, thrive more and earn rewards along the way! But some of us are missing out. Over the past year, we’re on the wrong track with our Go365 goals. Our Gold Status level is down, fewer of us are selecting activities, and the gap between our Go365 Age and actual age ticked up. Let’s get back at it with Go365!
In 2018, this measure changed from Silver Status to Gold Status to reflect our continual pursuit of healthier lifestyles. In 2017, over 79% of us were at least at Silver Status and in 2018 it was just shy of 74%.
While selecting activities can lead to reaching health goals, the first steps to better health and more Go365 Bucks is the completion of the Health Assessment (HA) and a biometric screening. In 2018, 79.7% of us completed the HA and 76% a screening, both down significantly from 2017.
With more than a half a year difference over our goal, check out Go365 to see how to close the gap between your Go365 Age and your actual age.
Are we doing everything we can to be the healthiest version of ourselves? Our lifestyles show that perhaps we’re not doing everything, but we are making ground. We’re more active than we were last year and, with experiences like the 100 Day Dash, continue to make physical activity a habit. Our tobacco use keeps going down, and although we’re less happy this year with our nutrition habits, help is on the way — Sodexo is making healthy choices easier in vending areas and cafes at some Humana locations.
Every minute of walking can extend an average life by one and half to two minutes and walking an extra 20 minutes a day can burn off seven pounds of body fat per year. So grab a friend and keep moving!
Each year, the 100 Day Dash brings almost half of our Humana team together like no other cultural experience. The camaraderie builds, the steps go up, and it’s all done with lots of fun and purpose – going well beyond a healthier lifestyle.
We may be sliding further from our goal, but here’s an idea: studies show we’re more likely to eat more fruits and vegetables if we write down how many servings we get. Let’s all keep track!
As our campuses move to be completely tobacco-free, so are more of us. If ready, check out ways to kick the habit.
According to the Humana Well-being Index, we’re feeling better about our health after a few years in decline. We look at health in three ways – Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual – and only our feelings toward our physical health declined in 2018. This is important because our emotional and spiritual lives play a key role in keeping us physically healthy.
How we feel about our health is often rooted in our overall well-being as we all have certain conditions in life that influence how healthy we are.
This is how we and our doctors would describe our physical health.
Our emotional health is our ability to maintain a balanced perspective when managing the demands of life.
Spiritual health is about having a strong connection to the beliefs, values and practices (whether religious or non-religious) by which we live.