Kindness + efficiency + listening + personalization: together, these are the most important experiences consumers seek from health care touchpoints, we learn in Humanizing Brand Experience: Healthcare Edition from Monigle. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this 8th volume of the company’s Humanizing series, Monigle tracks a different pattern of patient engagement — to be sure, built on trust, yet not just as a health consumer dealing with a diagnosed condition — but more holistically for getting me and keeping me healthy and well.

The implication and recommendation here is to deliver even more personalized care through engagement across many metrics: through kindness, through efficiency, through technology innovation, through service, and through access.

That also requires continuing to re-build trust with consumers, patients, and caregivers — many of whom are still delaying care due to cost, along with experience friction points. It’s Gen Z who are breaking the pattern of the usual UX metrics — looking for more empathy, kindness, responsiveness, and transparency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emotional values score highly across all generations, especially among the oldest patients.

But holistic care is most-valued by younger patients, Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X. Value of innovation and advocacy/influence also tend to skew younger, “Symbolic value,” measured by an extra cost to go to the “best” providers, scores highest among the oldest patients in the Silent Generation, whereas for Boomers to Gen Z at the youngest, that sort of “best of” market branding is less persuasive for engagement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health goals are often shared across generation — such as staying hydrated and maintaining a balanced diet. Other areas of health goals vary by age cohort: take mental wellbeing, with more Gen Z consumers reporting a top score here versus Boomers and Silent Generation citizens.

Bolstering the mental health goal, fewer Gen Z and Millennial consumers also told Monigle that their “emotional wellbeing” rated well compared with Gen X, Boomers, and Silent Gen peers.

In fact, Gen Z generation members tended to self-rank their personal health and wellbeing lower across all aspects measured (e.g., intellectual health, environmental wellbeing, physical health, spiritual wellbeing, occupational wellbeing, and financial health).

Reducing sugar intake resonates highest with the two oldest cohorts. And, weight loss scores highest among the middle-generation members, Gen X. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the benefits of re-fielding a study like the Humanizing series is to track changes over time, and introduce new topics based on innovations and market updates. Monigle added in questions about the use of AI for health and wellness — with nearly 1 in 2 consumers across all ages interested in an AI app to recommend a health care location within the shortest wait time, 43% of people interested in an AI chatbot to get a quick answer to a medical question, and 39% keen on a healthcare professional that uses AI to mor reliably diagnose a health concern or set up a health care appointment for routine medical needs.

This chart tells us how generations differ on their interest for using AI for health and wellness applications. Boomers are keenest on leveraging AI for diagnosing an illness, and least interested in AI to treat mental health. Generally Millennials and Gen Z, the youngest cohorts, register highest interest in AI across uses such as doctor recommendations, diagnosing injuries and mental health conditions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another important issue we can track over time is consumers’ adoption of digital health tools for tracking medical and health metrics. We see that the oldest health consumers are more likely use medical test results to help manage health, compared with fitness app and wearable tech use more likely adopted by younger consumers. I was interested to see the use of paper journals by more younger people, and with 9% of Gen Z consumers using spreadsheets to manage health.

This was a déjà vu moment from a 2013 Pew Research Center survey where Susannah Fox called out that nearly 50% of patients “tracked in my head.”  And, 34% said they tracked health data on paper, “like in a notebook or journal.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health Populi’s Hot Points:  In survey research, we use the term “unaided” when asking an open-ended question to the person we’re interviewing. That means the consumer’s response is the top issue that comes to their mind, “unaided” by any suggestion the interviewer makes.

Here, we see that kindness as a trait of a health care experience ranks highest by far (on an unaided basis) in the mind’s eye and heart of patients – as – health consumers.

Next comes efficiency and timeliness — a sign of respect from the health care provider, pharmacy, or other touchpoint — in not wasting the time of the patient-consumer-caregiver.

Then, it’s listening and individualizing care — again, signs of respect as well as efficiency and innovation.

With growing attention to AI in use cases more patients are coming to value and embrace, continuing to channel kindness and respect must be embedded into what Monigle terms “the living system of experiences.” This is how trust gets re-built, engagement gets inspired, and health outcomes get maximized.