AIA rewards Malaysians for sleeping!

| 30 Apr 2019

AIA Vitality has launched sleep tracking benefit in Malaysia that incentivises members to prioritise a good night's rest, "the first insurance company to reward Malaysians for sleeping".

Nine in 10 Malaysians (89%) suffer from one or more sleep problems, according to the 2018 National Sleep Survey by Nielsen Company.

As part of AIA Malaysia’s commitment to help Malaysians live Healthier, Longer and Better Lives, AIA is taking one step further in raising awareness on the importance of sleep - emphasising that resting well is no less important as being physically active and maintaining a balanced diet for a holistic wellbeing.

The new sleep tracking benefit rewards members with 10 AIA Vitality points per day (annual cap of 2,000 points per membership year) if they achieve a minimum of 420 minutes or seven hours of accumulated sleep within a 24-hour period.

The hours can be tracked by syncing the AIA Vitality mobile application to a fitness tracking device such as Fitbit, Garmin and Misfit. The device records the amount of sleep a person gets by accumulating their sleeping hours, beginning from 12.00 noon to 12.00 noon the following day.

Anusha Thavarajah, CEO of AIA Bhd, said: “I am happy to see how far AIA Vitality has progressed since we launched the programme three years ago. We started off by rewarding our members for taking steps to exercise more, and later gave them benefits for practising healthy eating. And now, we want to reward them for incorporating sufficient rest into their lives. By helping our members improve their health and incentivising them for making healthier choices, we are challenging ourselves to move beyond the role of being a traditional insurance company. Our role now is to not only protect their future but to encourage, empower and support them to achieve their health aspirations.”

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Heng Zee Wang, Chief Marketing Officer of AIA Bhd, said: “Findings from the latest Malaysia’s Healthiest Workplace by AIA Vitality survey revealed that 54.4% of Malaysian employees sleep less than seven hours a night, with 11% claiming to have poor sleep followed by 2% having very poor sleep. However, based on this survey, it is encouraging to see that more and more organisations are taking steps to implement interventions which can affect positive behavioural change among their employees. With an increased focus by the entire industry on implementing wellbeing programmes to help people on their health journey, we can create meaningful outcomes for our customers and the greater society.”

Launched in 2016, AIA Vitality provides its members with the knowledge, tools and motivation to bring about long-term positive behavioural changes to lead a healthier life.

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(Pic: Anusha Thavarajah, Chief Executive Officer, AIA Bhd. and Heng Zee Wang, Chief Marketing Officer, AIA Bhd., officially launching the AIA Vitality’s Sleep Tracking Benefit. Courtesy of AIA Malaysia.)