The Ministry of SMEs and Startups launched this year’s biggest startup festival in South Korea, the COMEUP 2020, from November 19-21. The three-day event aims to connect startups and business ventures under the theme “Meet the Future – Post Pandemic.”
The afternoon session featured two agenda speeches on behavioral change through digital healthcare and the management of renewable energy to address climate change. CEO Saeju Jung of Noom gave the first talk with the topic “Digital Healthcare: The Behavior Change Revolution.”
Digital Healthcare: The Behavior Change Revolution
CEO Saeju Jung introduced Noom as a mobile healthcare app pioneering the industry of behavior science, driving healthier lifestyles. The company’s unique database and approach create a platform that effectively addresses multiple health and wellness issues.
Noom is a behavior change pioneer using science and technology to help people retrain their brains to lead healthier lives.
Initially, Noom aims to overcome obesity through the formation of healthy habits in its users. Its vision of creating a healthier lifestyle for its customers led to launching more services catering to various conditions. The company plans to expand its services to other conditions that require lifestyle modifications such as hypertension, diabetes, stress, and anxiety.
Noom is the official online diabetes prevention program partner by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States.
Five Cores of Behavioral Change
Saeju listed the five cores of the behavioral change platform, engineered to engage users.
- Content and curriculum – interactive, digestible content designed to increase understanding of psychology and how habits are formed, such as diet.
- Peer support group – feature-based clustering by implicit behavior and explicit attributes improves outcomes.
- Personal coaching – human connection provides compassion, encouragement, accountability, and goal setting.
- Modular daily task lists – nudges, quizzes, and reminders all carefully calibrated and sequenced to optimize habit formation.
- Tracking tools and connected devices – medication tracking, food logging, and weigh-ins provide immediate feedback and positive reinforcement.
“Noom pioneered a first-of-its-kind psychology-based program powered by data, technology, and human coaches that helps millions of people make healthier choices that lead to healthier outcomes.”
The pandemic’s high mortality rate of patients with comorbidities led to people seeking ways to maintain their good health.
In April, the leading comorbidities associated with covid-19 deaths included obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. The coronavirus pandemic also raised anxiety and depression rates in the U.S., leading to people seek ways to maintain their good health.
In a positive light, the pandemic accelerated innovations and action for health issues such as telemedicine or telehealth. COVID-19 also led to new and smarter lifestyle trends in travel, food, and exercise.
Noom’s behavior science would greatly help users who want to adopt, maintain, and lead healthier lifestyles. Saeju added, “The focus on healthier living will accelerate as a result of the COVID pandemic.”
Visit COMEUP 2020 website to view the event’s programs. https://www.kcomeup.com/prog/program-main-event.jsp?
Check out other must-read articles from KoreaTechToday:
- South Korea Launches Global Startup Festival COMEUP 2020
- COMEUP 2020: COVID-19 & Startups: Fighting Against COVID-19
- COMEUP 2020: Startup and Entrepreneurship Policy Post COVID-19
- South Korea Holds First Online Digital Economy Forum 2020 (DEF2020)
