Digital Wellness, an employee story


During a recent visit to a customer place, I was surprised to see many flyers related mental health. There were questionnaires on every desk to raise the self-awareness. If you are wondering about my surprise, it may be ignorance that I thought psychological wellbeing was a personal issue. To overcome, we need help from our inner circle of family and friends. Now, corporations are taking this issue seriously which is a good move. 

Considering the stress related to work disregarding the origin, it is not surprising to find a rise in mental health-related illnesses at work. While going through a study on this topic, I came across a new term, Digital Wellness. As I pitch "digital" as part of my day job to various stakeholders, I shouldn't be as surprised as I was when I came across the term. Being ignorant of the term, I had downloaded a wellness app on my iPhone to record my happiness levels. At this point, I have a warning for those people who grew up in India. Please brace yourself.  The wellness app is called Moods. If you haven't fallen off the chair yet, I did a bit of research as part of this blog post. It is sold in Africa, South America, and UAE, and is soon to launch in the  UK and US.

Let's come back to the topic of Digital Wellness. It is us, in other words, the users, who have to use the various health and mental apps appropriately. Sometimes, we behave irresponsibly despite the universe conspiring to provide the best for us. Take the case of my friend. His organization has given an app for him to track his running/jogging/walking. He gets a free movie ticket when he reaches a specific goal. It is the proverbial carrot without a stick. When I talked to him, he was happy. He is able to see new movies for free. Then I asked him about his fitness levels. According to him, there was no change. I was disappointed to hear his response. So I inquired if Hollywood was to blame for not producing enough movies for him. Then he revealed the secret behind the free movie tickets.

Hollywood was not the culprit. They are churning movies regularly. The products may not have high quality but it generates enough buzz for my friend to take that trip to the movie theater. To get the free movie ticket, he gives the phone to his little daughter. She runs around to accumulate enough points for a free ticket.

Photo Courtesy: Luca Boldrini

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