The piece you’re about to read is from Klick Health’s Life (Sciences) After COVID-19 series, a collection of expert perspectives designed to inform and inspire the life sciences community for the coming changes and opportunities we anticipate as a result of this global health crisis.
The Insight
If there’s one thing we are certain of as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic containment measures, it’s that our worklife behaviors have been fundamentally altered. The future will look different from the past, and life sciences companies will need to proactively adapt and reconsider their customer engagement playbook to one that embraces the behavioral changes occurring in the not-so-distant future.
The mandate to “shelter at home” has suddenly and dramatically introduced a global behavioral experiment that has disrupted daily routines, including our health-related habits. Isolated at home, we’re apart from the typical contexts in which we live our day-to-day lives, and as a result, we may not interact with the cues around us that typically activate our health behaviors. Other reminders of health, like medical appointments, may have been cancelled or postponed. And for those who are experiencing significant strain—like losing a job, suffering from a severe illness, juggling childcare responsibilities, or caring for sick relatives—there’s a good chance that everyday health habits have taken a back seat to more pressing concerns.
We’re becoming more keenly aware of how our health is influenced by the features of where we live, what we have access to, and who we live with.
But, in this global behavioral experiment also lies an opportunity. Living in our home environments 24/7 brings elements of our daily context to the forefront. We’re becoming more keenly aware of how our health is influenced by the features of where we live, what we have access to, and who we live with.
Can we leverage this time of reflection and formation of new habits to help patients take better care of themselves when it comes to managing the risk factors of chronic conditions?
How can we leverage the powerful influence of patients’ everyday contexts to help them with their health goals?
Who can we leverage this opportunity with to reset habits? The non-compliant patients, those that are struggling, others?
The Evidence
Habits are fundamentally interactions between people and their environments. We often take instinctual cues from our surroundings that trigger certain behaviors (think smokers and having a cocktail).
When we repeatedly carry out the same behavior in a particular stable context, we develop an automatic association between that context and our behavioral response. In this way, aspects of the environment are interwoven into habit formation. For example, it’s easier to remember to take your medication if you do it every day after you perform a routine behavior, like brushing your teeth, because it’s generally easier to remember a task when it’s completed at a specified time and triggered by a contextual cue.
However, context is often neglected in behavior change. Many of us tend to think that behavior is mostly or entirely driven by internal motivations and capabilities and we don’t give due attention to the role that context plays. But in our current lives, isolated at home, context is brought into stark relief. And many of us will emerge from COVID-19 with a new desire to craft a context that helps us be healthier.
In February 2014, a two-day strike by London Tube workers resulted in a powerful illustration of how a change in context can create new habits.
After the two-day strike, researchers obtained 200 million points of card swipe data and compared commuters’ transportation habits before and after the strike. They found that the two-day strike forced many commuters to discover alternate, faster routes, like walking a short distance and taking the bus. These new habits continued for many well after the strike ended.
Like the two-day strike did, our current experience with social isolation is forcing us to experiment with new behaviors, many of which are becoming habitual. We are now working remotely, ordering groceries online, streaming concerts, and participating in virtual exercise programs. Concerns about COVID-19 have ushered in new health habits, like physical distancing, regular handwashing, and running outdoors as opposed to going to the gym.
Changing Contexts Changes Habits
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Authors
Leslie Jamison
EVP, Corporate Ventures (former)
As the EVP of Corporate Ventures, Leslie leverages her expertise in business, marketing, science, and human insights to identify and de-risk venture opportunities and grow them into successful businesses within life sciences that improve the lives of patients. Previously, Leslie built and led the Brand Strategy team at Klick Health, drawing upon a 25-year proven track record in building successful brands that create meaningful connections with customers. As part of her mandate, she established a center of excellence in brand development that helped fuel the agency's hypergrowth.
Tim Fisher, PhD
VP, Behavioral Science
Tim has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Southern California. He started his career as a professor of sociology and has developed a unique expertise in translating theories about human behavior into actionable strategies that create meaningful brands, programs and solutions. He is passionate about understanding the human dynamics underlying healthcare challenges and how—when we take these into account—we can improve well-being and create better healthcare experiences. Tim has worked in numerous therapeutic areas and has applied behavioral science thinking in the design of strategies and solutions for a wide range of target audiences.
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