The Mother City is home to the best drivers and the most frequent exercisers in SA, according to the latest research from Vitality, the incentive scheme managed by SA’s biggest medical scheme administrator, Discovery Health. Vitality pioneered a rewards model that draws on behavioural economics to nudge its members towards a healthier lifestyle with incentives such as free coffee, cheap gym membership, discounts on fitness gear, and cash-back offers on healthy food items. It not only attracts and retains members of its partner medical schemes, but also helps keep down costs: prior research has shown members who are actively engaged with the programme are admitted to hospital less frequently and have shorter stays than people who are inactive. Vitality Active Rewards has 5-million members around the world, 500,000 of them in SA. Its data shows it has greatest impact among people who are not in great health to begin with: people with complex chronic conditions on average increase the ...

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