#E0097 Can my wife get to “do something” about my health? Can my husband get to “do something” about my health?
Can my wife get to “do something” about my health? Can my husband get to “do something” about my health?
We all know that one person, who has hypertension or hyperlipidemia or another health condition that was identified during an annual health checkup, who is doing nothing about it and secretly hopes that their situation would either mysteriously disappear or remain as-is. But such conditions are a time bomb, waiting to explode with catastrophic health consequences.
In Japan, only one third of individuals with hypertension during health checkups go on to visit a medical center for further examination and intervention to address the problem if required. But can our spouses get us to do something about our health?
Between 2022 and 2023, workers at a pharmaceutical company in Japan who had hypertension or hyperlipidemia during workplace yearly health checkups were asked to participate in a research study conducted by the authors to encourage them to doing something about their health.
In this research, authors tested whether a low-cost, “social nudge,” a card sent to a spouse, could persuade employees to be more willing to undergo these follow‑up exams. As part of the study, the authors would send these employees or their live-in spouses a postcard to encourage them to visit a medical center to undergo further assessments.
The authors compared the number and proportion of employees doing something about their health between those whose spouses received a postcard (social-nudge group) and those that receive the postcard themselves (control group).
The number and percentage of employees who underwent further assessments in the four-month period after the annual health checkups in the social-nudge group and the control group were 22 (14.9%) and 7 (18.4%), respectively.
The authors believe the social nudge worked because employees did not want to “cause trouble at home,” or were hesitant to tell their spouses that “they would go later,” or had been prompted to visit a medical center because their spouses would also visit the medical center. Yes, my wife or my husband can get me to do something about my health!
Sending a small, inexpensive reminder to an employee’s spouse can markedly increase the intent to pursue further health checks. While this boost in intention did not automatically translate into higher attendance rates, the approach is inexpensive and easy to implement. Future interventions might combine such social nudges with other reminders to move from intention to action. Employers and other institutions alike can use this affordable strategy to promote employee health.
Link to original journal article: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/eohp/7/1/7_2024-0017/_article
Title of the paper:
Attitude change to secondary health examination using social nudging through a spouse
Authors: Wataru Katagiri, Masaaki Shimono, Shunsuke Eguchi, Masaki Takebayashi, Kazuma Iekushi
DOI:
10.1539/eohp.2024-0017
