Edited by Katie Barnes. Email:
katiebarnes@leisuremedia.com RESEARCH ROUND-UP
never taking part in sport or exercise. In the survey, 24 per cent of Brits said they struggled to motivate themselves to exercise on their own, while the top reason for not using a leisure centre or swimming pool was cost. However, another piece of research – this time by Newcastle University in the UK – has suggested that things could change if people were offered a financial reward. The university focused on 16 previous
Cash back E
arlier this year, research firm Mintel revealed that 30 per cent of people in the UK admit to rarely or
studies in which people had been given incentives to improve their health in some way, such as by taking up physical activity, quitting smoking or attending vaccination/disease screening sessions. The studies involved a total of more than 30,000 participants, and the university says its research is the broadest look to date at the impact of incentives.
Money motivation The research, published in the journal PLOS ONE*
, was funded by the National
Institute of Health Research with a view to finding out how the NHS might save money in the long run. Overall, financial incentives ranged
from £3 (US$5.16) for having a flu vaccination to £467 (US$786) for taking part in an employee scheme to give up smoking for a year. Yet the team found that even in the fl u vaccination study, where the reward was just £3, people were 50 per cent more likely to change their behaviour. In fact, it discovered that larger incentives were no more effective than smaller monetary rewards in infl uencing people’s behaviour. Financial penalties for not succeeding in the task were also found to work. In
Surprise findings Dr Emma Giles, a research associate at Newcastle University and lead author, comments: “This was an interesting fi nding and we were surprised at just how strong the effect was. People who took part in these reward or penalty schemes were much more likely to adopt healthy behaviours, and if they continued, they would have more chance of remaining healthy for longer.” She adds: “Many studies used vouchers
for supermarkets or similar things rather than actual cash. This might be a more acceptable way of implementing this.” Dr Jean Adams, a senior lecturer in public health at Newcastle University,
As little as £3 can make people 50 per cent more likely to change their behaviour, according to research from Newcastle University
Financial incentives, as well as penalties for not succeeding, changed behaviours
these studies, participants had to hand over a set amount of money which they knew they wouldn’t get back if they didn’t fulfi l the health behaviour requirements.
comments: “We were surprised how few studies we found which had looked at the impact fi nancial incentives can have. But at this stage, we don’t know the right level that incentives should be at, so it’s not clear if this sort of scheme would save the NHS and country money.” In addition, the team says it’s not clear
whether the effect continues in the long term, after the rewards have stopped. It’s also not clear from the current research whether there’s a bigger impact in certain socioeconomic groups. Both of these areas were highlighted as possible variables to investigate further. But as Adams concludes: “We try all
kinds of techniques to try to help people quit smoking or otherwise live healthy lives, so why not try this? It’s about nudging people into healthier behaviours. There’s a chance this could save the taxpayer money in the long run.”
*Giles, E, et al. The Effectiveness of Financial Incentives for Health Behaviour Change: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLOS ONE. March 2014 62 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital June 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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