A Canadian First! Results now Published from the First-Ever Study to Examine Incentives in Canadian Healthcare

TORONTO, Sept.  29, 2015 /CNW/ - The University Health Network, the University of Toronto, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Cookson James Loyalty Inc. are pleased to announce the results of the first known study to examine financial health incentives in Canadian healthcare, published this week in the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention (http://journals.lww.com/jcrjournal/toc/publishahead).  

"Study enrollment was higher than expected, but more importantly, 75% of the cardiac rehab patients receiving the financial health incentive said 'it worked'. In addition, and 75% of people said they would sign up for such a program – this number increased to 90% at the end of the study," said Marc Mitchell, PhD, the lead study researcher.

Dr. Mitchell continued, "Only a couple of US studies have tested financial health incentives in a healthcare setting. This is not only one of the first of its kind in Canada, but is one of the first studies globally to examine health incentives in healthcare. We paid very close attention to the impact of incentives on intrinsic motivation and it appears that incentives, as delivered, did not undermine motivation. This is a key consideration and one worth further exploration. This is an important first step in the evolution of health incentives in Canadian healthcare and we are grateful to the team at Cookson James Loyalty for supporting the study and providing the BestLifeRewarded platform for study participants."

Cookson James Loyalty Inc. (CJL) continues its "coordinated assault" to change the face of healthcare in Canada. In 2010, Cookson James Loyalty, the founders of BestLifeRewarded^® announced their vision to improve the health of Canadians. Since then, the group has successfully partnered with over 80 organizations to do just that. BestLifeRewarded is the first program to combine popular reward incentives with evidence-based health behaviour change modeling. BestLifeRewarded continues to receive global recognition for its innovative approach.

"We were thrilled to partner with the University Health Network on this important research project. BestLifeRewarded has been recognized globally for its evidence-based approach to innovation, and we are proud to finally have some "made in Canada" research to reinforce the benefits of an incentive-based approach," said Susanne Cookson, President and Co-founder of Cookson James Loyalty.

SOURCE Cookson James Loyalty

Contacts: Marc Mitchell, PhD, CIHR Fellow at the University Health Network, 416 660-7881, [email protected]; Susanne Cookson, Co-founder, President, Cookson James Loyalty, 905 336-1000 office, [email protected], cooksonjamesloyalty.com