Health Integrator: supporting the prevention of type 2 diabetes

Ageing and unhealthy lifestyles are leading to more and more people being diagnosed with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.¹

The five major NCDs (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and mental disorders) account for an estimated 86% of the deaths and 77% of the disease burden in Europe.¹

And there’s an economic burden too. In the EU alone, at least 25% of total healthcare budgets are spent on treating NCDs.²

Spotlight on type 2 diabetes

There are around 60 million people living with type 2 diabetes in Europe and the disease makes them 2-3 times more likely to experience heart failure or suffer a heart attack or stroke.^3,4 And the prevalence of diabetes is increasing among all ages, mostly due to obesity, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity. But in many cases, type 2 diabetes can be managed – and even prevented – through lifestyle changes – such as achieving a healthy weight, having a good diet and becoming more physically active.⁵ The challenge however, is that many people struggle to make those changes without support and currently, only 3% of EU healthcare budgets are spent on preventative services as healthcare services are already overwhelmed with treating the sick.⁶

So what is the solution?

Finding a solution to this growing problem is possible, as Jan-Philip Beck, CEO of EIT Health explains: “A large amount of NCDs can be prevented, if people who are at risk get the support they need at the right time.⁷ The key is to move to a more balanced funding of treatment and prevention. Health Integrator is a fantastic example of what’s possible when we approach prevention with innovative funding solutions that don’t rely on traditional healthcare funding models.”

To address the issue of stretched healthcare budgets, the Health Integrator team worked with EIT Health to develop a new funding model. Fredrik explains: “We have issued a health impact bond, that bridges the funding gap between prevention and reactive healthcare. It allows us to use pension funds to invest in preventative health.”

Fredrik Söder, CEO of Health Integrator explains how the platform works: “Health Integrator combines existing services and solutions into a personalised function. It’s open and designed to be accessible for each and every user. We also recognised that changing behaviour is incredibly hard. This is why Health Integrator is different. We don’t just tell people who are at risk to get healthy, but provide a platform and a dedicated health coach to help them do it.”

Together with EIT Health, the Health Integrator team is now looking at how to scale the platform across Europe so that many others can benefit.