HR Happy Hour 181 - Wellness for the Modern Workplace

HR Happy Hour 181 - Wellness for the Modern Workplace (an update from ShapeUp)

Recorded Monday, April 21, 2014

Hosts: Steve Boese, Trish McFarlane

Guest: Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Co-founder and CEO of ShapeUp

This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve and Trish talked with Dr. Rajiv Kumar MD, Co-founder and CEO of ShapeUp, an online wellness platform for companies and health plans that leverages the power of a trusted social network to improve the health of large populations.

ShapeUp is the leading global provider of clinically-proven, social networking-based employee wellness programs that help people exercise more, eat healthier, and lose weight. Founded in 2006 by two medical doctors, ShapeUp has pioneered an innovative approach to behavior change that leverages the power of social networking, gaming, coaching, and financial rewards to improve the health of large populations and reduce healthcare costs. ShapeUp's social wellness platform covers two million lives across 128 countries and is used by more than 200 employers and health plans.

On the show, Dr. Kumar shared an update on the state of wellness and corporate wellness programs today as well as ShapeUp's approach and vision of wellness as a very social activity at its core. Additionally, we talked about the role of technology in the support of corporate and individual wellness goals. Mobile, gamification, wearables, and social concepts have transformed both the activities and the design of wellness programs in the last few years.

This was a fun and interesting show, and I hope you check it out. Many thanks to Rajiv and everyone at ShapeUp for joining us this week.