A little bit of tech. Much more peace of mind for your health.

When you think about what you do to keep well, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s the five fruit and veg you eat a day, that early morning run before work, or the fact that you step on the scales weekly. We all know that healthy routines are essential for preventing illness, but are our habits going far enough?

Following a recent survey of 2,867 individuals across the UK, Hong Kong and the UAE*, we found that everyday wellbeing habits are high on the agenda for most people, yet regular self-checks and help with health issues are often being neglected. 

This article will look at how our best intentions aren’t always aligning with what it really means to look after our preventive health and how, with the help of digital tools, we can get better at spotting early warning signs.

The prevention gap 

There’s no doubt anymore that eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly is essential for warding  off ill health, and many of our survey respondents are doing well in that area. In the UK and Hong Kong, for example, 60% say they're likely to exercise for at least 2.5 hours every week and 70% said they’re likely to eat nutritious food daily. In the UAE, these daily habits were in even greater practice, with 84% saying they eat nutritious food every day and 79% exercising for 2.5 hours every week. 

Yet, when it comes to extending this commitment to their overall health by performing regular self-checks, the picture changes. In the UK, only 56% of respondents said they regularly check for moles, or changes to moles, and just over half (51%) of Hong Kong respondents self-examine for lumps. In fact, over a quarter (26%) say they’re unlikely to check at all. 

More alarmingly, the survey showed that if any of the respondents noticed any unexpected bodily changes during a self-check – perhaps they discover a suspicious-looking mole or experience changes to their bowel movements – only 14% would seek medical advice the same day. By comparison, over half (51%) would act on a vehicle warning light the day it appears.   

These findings suggest there could be a paradox at play. While many value healthy habits and do the right things to stay well, routine preventive checks and medical follow-ups aren't taking priority.

Tools, tech and taking control

But could that be about to change? With AI, apps, wearables and a multitude of digital health tools at our fingertips, it’s becoming easier than ever to fit self-checks into our daily life. We just need to form the right habits.

While our survey findings show that respondents aren’t consistently using tools and apps, such as sleep trackers or heart rate monitors, many said they’d feel more confident acting on a health concern if the tool flagged something unusual. For example, only 39% of UAE respondents currently use health monitors, yet 43% said they’d feel more confident taking action if the device alerted them to a possible health issue.

At AXA Global Healthcare, we want to encourage this type of behaviour by giving people the confidence and ability to act early, not just when something feels wrong. It’s why we’ve recently launched preventive wellness features in our new member app. Powered by the latest health and wellness tech, these features – such as fitness and nutrition tracking, mental wellbeing tools, and meditation – can help members make healthier lifestyle choices. They can also pair these tools with their phone or wearable, turning occasional tech use, like that of our survey respondents, into regular, preventive health habits.

As tools like these bring advanced health monitoring to the palm of our hands, we have an opportunity to shift from reactive care to proactive self-awareness. From eating five fruit and veg a day to also checking in with ourselves for early warning signs. From using digital tools out of curiosity to making them part of our everyday routine.

The information in this article is correct at the time of publishing.

^{*Research was carried out online by Obsurvant. All surveys were conducted in May 2025. The samples comprised of  2,083 UK nationals, 512 UAE nationals and 272 Hong Kong nationals. All research conducted adheres to the UK Market Research Society (MRS) code of conduct (2023). Obsurvant is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and complies with the DPA (2018).}