Humana Chooses Sensei for Weight Loss for Its Associates |
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Written by U.S. Insurance News
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Monday, 04 February 2008 |
Humana employees who want to shape up now can have the help of a personal digital coach.
The Kentucky-based health benefits provider is offering its 22,000 associates across the country a discounted rate to using Sensei for Weight Loss(tm), a Web-based, behavior-changing weight-loss program from Sensei, Inc.
"Humana is committed to ensuring that our associates have access to resources that enable them to enjoy good health and fitness," said Deborah Triplett, director of Associate Benefit Programs and Policy at Humana. "We are constantly looking to new innovations in those categories that will support our associates leading healthier lives."
Launched last November, the Sensei for Weight Loss program transforms a participant's cell phone and computer into a personal digital coach. Based on information the client enters at a Web site, the program prompts the client to make health choices throughout each day with specific food recommendations, reminders, and motivational tips it sends to the phone and/or PC. The program then tracks progress toward the client's stated weight loss and fitness goals.
Sensei currently supports select phone models on the Sprint and AT&T mobile phone networks. Service for BlackBerry devices is expected to be available in February.
Dr. Robert Schwarzberg, CEO and president of Sensei, said his company hopes that Humana's choice to provide the program to its employees will be viewed as a "call to action" by other corporations, for whom weight loss is a top priority for their wellness initiatives.
Dr. Schwarzberg noted that the Centers for Disease Control reports that 66 percent of adults in American are overweight or obese, which increases the risk for such diseases as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.
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