There is no one diet or eating plan that is right for everyone, it is important to learn your body type and what works for you through education. That is why, the Vida platform was born. Stephanie Tilenius, the current CEO of Vida Health, created the Vida Health app because she was inspired to help remedy diseases that are preventable through fitness. Tilenius’ father struggled with obesity until he died of a heart attack, which could have been prevented had he had access to proper fitness education through a trainer. Tilenius, who previously worked at Google, desired to help people with diabetes, high cholesterol or blood pressure, or any other health-related medical disorder have access to personal trainers who could help them manage and alleviate the effects of their disease.
Vida is a “marketplace of expert health coaches” that work together to allow you to lose weight, get fit, or manage chronic illnesses through weekly video calls and with daily text-based support via an app. Vida has a range of health experts that cover 20 different areas of expertise, such as nurses, diabetes educators, medical assistants, nutritionists, personal trainers and physicians and over 50 “evidence-based programs” that can be adapted and personalized especially for your goals.
Stephanie Tilenius, co-founder and CEO of Vida is dedicated to ensuring that people know how to eat right and stay health by connecting consumers with the expertise they need to optimize their health and tackle conditions head-on, at their convenience and at a lower cost than existing solutions and she speaks to what is wrong with the current health system and how companies need to consider low cost solutions to bring health coaching in the workplace. Vida has expanded since its creation to target not only diseases and medical complications but also overall fitness, featuring options like building strength or losing weight. Vida is still very much centered around health and general wellbeing, but it now offers personal trainers to people who are simply looking to get into better shape.
The Vida App connects consumers with the expertise they need to optimize their health and tackle chronic conditions head-on, at their convenience and at a lower cost than existing solutions. The app is available in the App Store or through the Vida website at www.vida.com. Vida’s HIPAA-compliant, on-demand care solution is unique in that it combines programs from top medical institutions with a strong network of experienced health coaches and providers to deliver highly personalized, expert care via a user’s mobile device. Vida is “real health coaches in your pocket.”
“Preventive health is the greatest public health problem of our generation—133 million people in the U.S. have chronic conditions, constituting 7 of the top 10 causes of death,” said Tilenius. “Vida combines technology and a human touch to help individuals manage one or, in many cases, multiple conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and cancer, with a uniquely scalable model. The mobile app provides 24/7, personalized guidance from real-life experts who draw upon protocols developed in partnership with leading medical institutions. This approach has proven to get results; greater than 50% of Vida beta customers with a chronic condition lost over a pound of weight per week and experienced real improvements in A1C, cholesterol and blood pressure.”
Vida is set up so that anyone can use it, even if you are not technically savvy. After download, you share your goals with Vida so the program can setup a personalized plan. Then you get to pick out the type of coach that you need to make the program work for you. Vida then selects a coach based on your goals and the type of motivation you are looking to receive. Your coach is available to you 24/7 to provide you with expert advice and to share or discuss your progress, whether it be – food consumption, cravings you may be having, diabetes issues, your stress level, sleep issues or blood pressure.
Vida draws upon a nationwide network of professional health coaches and uses algorithms to pair a coach with each individual. Vida uses wearable device integration and Apple’s HealthKit, as well as data from patients’ doctors, to suggest the optimal care approach for each person. Through the app on iPhone, individuals can opt for one-on-one or team-based support via text, voice and video. Vida has developed its own patent-pending enterprise care platform enabling each coach to work with hundreds of clients simultaneously while delivering a highly personalized touch.
Behind Vida’s consumer friendly app design and coaching interface is a powerful decision engine combining real user data and the latest research on weight loss and chronic diseases to give patients and providers the benefit of real-time, individualized care approaches with predictable outcomes. Vida is continuously growing its enterprise database that includes landmark clinical trials like the Diabetes Prevention Program, as well as programs like the 10 Day Detox and the Blood Sugar Solution from the Chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Functional Medicine Institute, Dr. Mark Hyman.
Vida offers a free week of service to get matched with a health coach and experience 24/7 on demand support. The cost of the service is $49 a month, a fraction of other high-touch offline solutions that can range from $100-300 per hour for an in-person consultation. Go to Vida.com or download the app for free from the App Store.
