Future health costs cause increasing personal responsibility - Simplyhealth

Over half of UK adults are worried they won't be able to afford to look after their health into old age, according to a new report.

However, despite the public's concerns, more than half of those surveyed said they are willing to take greater responsibility for it.

The research from private healthcare provider Simplyhealth, comes following weeks of debate around the proposed Government shake up of public health provision and financing.

Its latest Bothered Britain report reveals that concern about the future costs of managing health and illness appears to be fuelling public opinion, with 54% citing it as their main motivation for reassessing their lifestyle.

Of the people currently claiming to fully understand the proposed changes to government healthcare policy (35%), three quarters (75%) believe the changes will ultimately have a positive impact on the country in the long term.

Roy Lilley, an independent health policy analyst, believes the report shows people are starting to understand the role they need to play in managing their health.

"This can only be encouraging news for a government that is busy reshaping the NHS around wellness and not sickness," he says.

"Years of public health campaigns have bombarded us with messages around nutrition, smoking, and alcohol and perhaps now, in light of the greater need to protect our health system, they are finally getting through," he adds.

James Glover, corporate sales and marketing director at Simplyhealth says: "It's apparent that times are changing and people will not be able to rely solely on public services such as the NHS to take care of their health.

"Small lifestyle changes individuals' make now can have a big impact on a person's long term health and wellbeing. Our research has found that 71% of people are looking to do more exercise and 67% are going to eat more healthily.

"It's great that individuals are taking these steps as prevention can be much more effective than simply trying to cure," he adds.