Laura Woods and her Health Mate Minnie Get Active with Aviva’s new iPhone App.
Aviva Paves the Way for Irish People on the Path to a Healthier Lifestyle
Wednesday, 7th April 2010: Aviva, Ireland’s fastest growing health insurer released a new free iPhone application called Health Mate. Launched by RTE’s Laura Woods (with the help of her dog Minnie – insert only for caption in photo), Aviva is the first health insurer in Ireland to launch an iPhone application. Health Mate promotes proactive/preventative health management and is tailored specifically to encourage Irish users to be more active while enabling health conscious users to track their progress and achieve their health goals.
While there are hundreds of health related apps, Health Mate from Aviva is the only pedometer app that provides detailed localised information for the Irish market. The free application works like a traditional pedometer but it also takes into account height, weight and gender to calculate the users BMI, once the BMI is set the user can then start to track their personal health progress. The application uses the accelerometer within the iPhone to measure movement and estimate the number of steps taken, distance travelled and the number of calories burned. What makes Health Mate from Aviva unique in Ireland is that the iPhone app comes pre-loaded with close to one hundred popular walking and running routes.
There are 96 individual routes on Health Mate with walking trails in every county in the republic, from Waterford to Westmeath, Mayo to Monaghan, there’s no excuse not to get active. Each of the 96 routes across the country are categorised by time, distance, difficulty level and average calories. If that’s not enough for walking fans, an additional feature on the iPhone app is the ability to use the GPS on the iPhone, the app will serve up a route based on the user’s current location. The user can also save their own favourite routes on their iPhone.
Commenting on the launch of the iPhone app, Ruth Bailey, Consumer Marketing Manager at Aviva Health said, ‘Aviva is committed to helping Irish consumers pro-actively manage their health and getting active is one of the simplest ways to improve your health. There are approximately 250,000 iPhones in Ireland so Health Mate from Aviva is the ideal way for Aviva to connect with consumers and provide them with the tools they need to evaluate their level of fitness and monitor their progress.’
Health Mate from Aviva is free and available now at the App store directly from iPhones, iPod Touch and the iTunes App Store.
Radio & TV presenter Laura Woods is a new convert to the iPhone and is using Health Mate from Aviva. ‘I’ve recently got a new iPhone and downloaded Health Mate from Aviva. It’s a fantastic way to get a real picture of the amount of exercise I actually take. I try to walk every day with my dog Minnie and I use the Health Mate app from Aviva to pick different routes around Dublin depending on the amount of time I have for the walk. The app shows how far I’ve walked, how many calories I’ve burned and all progress is graphed and automatically updated over time so I can monitor my progress and how my fitness is improving and of course the areas that still need work! Now is the perfect time to download the fee app and start enjoying the benefits walking and being healthier.’
Notes to editors:
About Aviva Health Insurance Ireland Limited
Aviva Health Insurance Ireland Limited, Ireland’s fastest growing private health insurer, is a division of Aviva Group Ireland plc, Ireland’s leading insurance company with 1.2 million customers across the general insurance, life and pensions and health insurance sectors.
Aviva Group Ireland plc is a subsidiary of Aviva plc. Aviva is one of the world’s largest savings, general insurance and investment groups with the purpose of delivering prosperity and peace of mind to its customers.
