93 percent of post-survey participants reported better understanding between financial and physical health
Research outlining the impact physical wellness has on financial well-being was unveiled last week at the Filene Research Institute’s “big. bright. minds.” 2014 conference. Working with hubbub health® and TwinStar Credit Union, a group of credit union executives in Filene’s i3 program launched a pilot program that demonstrated the relationship between financial and physical outcomes when employees joined challenges that encouraged healthier behaviors like drinking more water, walking more and being mindful of what’s in their lunch bags.
“Using hubbub’s challenge platform, Filene’s i3 team was able to validate that the more people take care of their bodies, the more they will likely take care of their financial health,” said hubbub Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Brian Berchtold.
Prior to launching this pilot program, called “Wellness Makes Cents,” 55 percent of survey participants had less than $1,000 in their savings accounts, and more than half of the participants wanted to lose more than 20 pounds. Just four weeks later, 93 percent of post-survey participants reported a better understanding of the correlation between financial and physical health, motivating them to engage more in the wellness program to earn points towards financial products or solutions, while at the same time, 61 percent reported that the program improved their physical activity.
“We were amazed by how much financial fitness and physical well-being are intertwined,” said TwinStar Credit Union Director of Human Resources and Employee Development Nicole Colgan. “Our employees have been engaged on hubbub for nearly a year, but during this pilot program, it became clear that the more mindful people are of their overall health, the more aware they are of their financial choices.
According to Andrew Downin of Filene, the research findings start to prove a direct correlation between financial wellness and physical well-being for individuals. “Research has shown a connection between physical well-being and financial wellness. The healthier you are, the healthier your finances generally are,” said Filene Innovation Director Andrew Downin. “We are extremely grateful to hubbub for partnering with our i3 team to test how a prototype leveraging their system could highlight and strengthen this connection. The prototype test results were promising and we feel this is an area where credit unions should further explore how they can positively impact their members’ financial and physical lives.”
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