World Diabetes Day: a new digital program launched in Germany to promote good behaviours

Making it easier for people to live with type 2 diabetes by adapting new lifestyle habits towards a healthier diet, regular physical activity and successful diabetes self-management: this is what Generali Germany offers through its private health insurer Central Krankenversicherung with the digital disease management program  ‘initative.diabetes’. Thanks to simple and smart digital tools, customers are able to improve their lifestyle and learn to control the disease. In September, the initiative was honoured with the MSD-Health award (MSD-Gesundheitspreis), the most important award for innovations in the field of health-economics.

At the very beginning of the program, every customer receives a starter kit, an iPhone®, and a GlucoDock® blood glucose meter to use with the smartphone, a Fitbit® activity tracker and instalment-instructions. A telephonic coach supports the customer personally throughout the whole program. A dedicated website collects all relevant health data and allows the coach to supervise the customer's blood glucose and intervene, if necessary. Furthermore, the website can also be used by the customer and coach to communicate with each other.

The one-year program is divided in two 6-months phases - the intensive phase and the maintenance phase. In the first phase, the coach and the customer determine the reduction target of the long-term blood glucose level HbA1c and of the Body Mass Index. In the second phase, the customer is then encouraged to adapt new lifestyle habits.
Up to now, 82% of participants successfully reduced their long-term blood sugar level, a key factor in predicting the risk of secondary diseases, while 55% were able to lose weight while 22% were able to decrease the intake of medication.