AIA Australia has released findings from a “ground-breaking” research initiative, Healthier Together, highlighting the eight key ingredients that go into living a healthier, longer, better life; and it found the most powerful ingredient is ‘have an optimistic outlook’.
A statement from the insurer says a follow-up survey showed that this is especially the case for Australians, where this ingredient drove a sense of living healthier lives the most, among all the countries surveyed.
The study was conducted by global data insights company Kantar Group and involved interviews with more than 80 experts from a broad spectrum of professional disciplines in Australia and across Asia-Pacific. Study findings were then validated through a survey of 6,000 consumers across Asia-Pacific, including 500 Australians.
The company says the survey also found that Australians still feel they need to do more to live healthier, better lives, with only 14 percent believing they adopt at least seven of the eight ingredients, and 45 percent believing they adopt four or more.
The survey also showed that Australians can make the most improvement in ‘continuous learning and exploration’ as well as ‘feeling active and engaged’ – the two ingredients the least Australians were adopting.
Stuart A. Spencer, AIA Group Chief Marketing Officer, says that AIA’s purpose is to help people live better lives. “It’s therefore critical to gain a deep understanding of what people can actually do to achieve this, and how we can help them, beyond the obvious steps of exercising, eating healthily and getting sufficient sleep, particularly in the context of Covid-19.”
AIA says the study produced eight specific behaviors that are most influential in helping people live healthier lives. These were:
- Have an optimistic outlook: Look for the positive things in everyday situations, not letting negative events of the past affect the present and finding enjoyment in work
- Be active and engaged: Be an active member of your wider community, remain socially active with friends and family and remain physically and mentally active
- Self-motivate: Focus on your own personal goals, look for ways to make work/tasks/chores more engaging, and see setbacks as learning opportunities
- Understand yourself and your emotions: Understand what motivates you in life, understand what is important to you in life, and understand your limits/strengths/weaknesses
- Feel a sense of independence: Feel confident identifying what is right for you, focus time and energy on things you can control, and be capable of improving your mental health
- Maintain quality relationships: Focus on giving people your full attention, be open and honest with others, and seek out like-minded people who share similar interests
- Never stop learning or exploring: Explore new ideas and engage with new things, challenge your own thinking, and be open to change
- Make time to recharge: Create clear boundaries between work and personal time and find ways to recharge your energy level
The survey asked the 6,000 participants to rate their performance across these eight criteria. Key findings included:
- Some 85 percent of those surveyed rated themselves as not sufficiently adopting all eight ingredients and just 15 percent who believed they are.
- A pathway to improved health and wellness and one that is the easiest first step for people to take is “make time to recharge”.
- By far the most important ingredient across all markets was ‘an optimistic outlook’, which was 2.3 times more common among the group of people that scored highest on the survey.
Click here to see the complete findings of the AIA Healthier Together study and survey.
