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Health Horizons virtual event: The power of personalised healthcare
Register here to watch the virtual event on 19 March at 11am.
We are entering a new era of personalised medicine which identifies individual risk and provides targeted information to protect against ill health.
There is no doubt that health messages based on large population studies have helped millions of people live longer, healthier lives, but we all know that one size does not fit everyone.
A generalised approach can be a barrier to engagement because it’s difficult to follow advice that doesn’t feel relevant.
It could also mean that key issues based on our individual genetic inheritance are missed.
Better outcomes
Providing more targeted health care and support for teams, or personalised prevention as it is often described, delivers better outcomes because it factors in individual risks and lifestyles.
This makes sound business sense.
The Reward & Employee Benefits Association explains: “For employers, this means reduced sickness absence, increased productivity across the workforce and cost efficiencies due to insurance premium tax savings.”1
The World Economic Forum has also highlighted the business benefits of investing in the health of your workforce, pointing out, “An extensive pool of research demonstrates that a healthy workforce generates fewer health costs and higher productivity.2
Business metrics
“Many studies connect employee health and wellbeing to business metrics suggesting that poor employee health and wellbeing can heighten costs and reduce revenue.”
So how can businesses provide more prevention-focused support and achieve these gains?
Until recently, health advice has not included a vital piece of the puzzle because it has been based on large epidemiological studies and did not factor in genetics.
The unique DNA code we inherit from our parents, influences our risk of disease, reaction to infection, response to medicines, anatomy and behaviour — pretty much every aspect of our health and wellbeing.3
Unlocking opportunities
And we are unlocking an increasing number of opportunities to tap into this potentially life-changing and life-saving information.
Mapping the human genome, and learning more about our genetic inheritance – and the way it is impacted by environmental factors such as diet, lifestyle and our exposure to toxins, infections and other pathogens which drive disease – is at the heart of this shift towards more targeted healthcare.
We are only beginning to explore the benefits of personalised medicine, but it has already revolutionised cancer care by allowing doctors to look at someone’s inherited risk of developing many cancers and provide more effective, targeted therapies.4
This ensures the best use of both new medicines and long-standing therapies and avoids unnecessary treatment and potential side effects from chemotherapy drugs.5 This improves each patient’s experience and has led to a huge improvement in survival.
Official statistics confirm that although cancer rates are rising with our ageing population, earlier diagnosis and better treatment has seen the number of people dying from cancer fall by 37% in men and 33% in women over the past 25 years.6
Cost of absence
And they often need less time off for treatment or to recover from its side-effects.
With a study in the British Medical Journal estimating that, for breast cancer alone, work absence around chemotherapy costs the UK economy £133.6m a year, the potential savings are enormous.7
Genomic medicine also could deliver significant wins around identifying those most at risk of cancer, heart disease and other life-limiting conditions.
Screening to look for specific genes – such as BRCA variants which increase the risk of breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers8 – is expanding rapidly as the cost of these tests come down and the number of known variants increases.
Knowledge is power as screening allows people who have a problematic variant to consider preventative surgery, which cut the odds of developing breast cancer by 90-95%,9 or having more frequent checks to catch any cancer at the earliest opportunity.
Reduces fear
This reduces fear and uncertainty for the individuals affected, and could reduce absence for diagnostic investigations and treatment.
Other targets for screening include genes which cause high cholesterol, even in super-fit athletes,10 and variants which increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes.
One in 250 people carries the gene associated with familial hypercholesterolemia, although most don’t realise they are at risk.12 And as FH doesn’t always respond to commonly prescribed statins an accurate diagnosis ensures the most effective treatment.13
Huge potential
As well as these tests for specific genes, there is huge potential for disease prevention using the ever-improving science of polygenic risk scoring (PRS).
This form of genetic screening looks for genes which are known to influence the risk of various diseases.
Complex algorithms are then used to calculate the combined impact of these gene variants to predict an individual’s risk of a growing number of conditions — and identify proactive measures to reduce it.
Genetic screening is the future, and it will provide more and more opportunities to provide tailored advice and build healthier, happier teams.
Most of us know what we should be doing to stay healthy, yet that doesn’t always provide the motivation to make positive changes.
But knowing you are at increased risk of a particular health problem provides a powerful incentive to do something about it.
Health Horizons virtual event: The Power of Personalised Healthcare
If you’d like to learn more about personalised healthcare and how it can better support your workforce, join us on 19 March for our Health Horizons live virtual event. This session will explore why a one-size-fits-all approach to healthcare is no longer effective for today’s multi-generational workforce.
Our panel of expert speakers will share practical tools and insights to help business leaders personalise their health and wellbeing strategies, alongside the emerging trends shaping the future of workforce health.
It’s an opportunity to understand how personalised healthcare can empower your employees and drive stronger engagement with your business health benefits.
Register here to watch the virtual event: Here
To read more articles from Bupa, visit our content hub on Health & Protection – here.
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1 https://reba.global/resource/how-a-more-preventative-approach-to-employee-wellbeing-is-influencing-benefits-strategy.html
2 https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/07/business-benefits-of-boosting-employee-health-and-well-being/
3 https://www.cdc.gov/genomics-and-health/about/index.html#
4 https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/targeted-therapies#
5 https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/12/nhs-cancer-patients-genetic-test/
6 https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2023-076962
7 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/1/e039412
8 https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/worried-about-cancer/causes-and-risk-factors/brca-gene
9 https://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/surgery/mastectomy/types/prophylactic
10 https://www.apunts.org/en-familiar-hypercholesterolemia-in-high-performance-articulo-S1886658118300446
11 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3746083/#
12 https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/familial-hypercholesterolaemia#
13 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7459268/
