MeYou Health (www.meyouhealth.com) has launched Daily Challenge (http://www.meyouhealth.com/challenge), a free, online social well-being tool that helps you positively impact your life every day by completing simple, positive tasks and sharing the experience with your personal connections.
"MeYou Health is all about helping you – and the people you know – take small steps to lasting change. With Daily Challenge, we leverage new social connection research that says that by helping you harness the full positive potential of your social network, you'll be better able to incorporate healthy behaviors into your daily life," said Chris Cartter, general manager of MeYou Health.
In order to jump-start a rich social experience -- and provide an easy way to invite people you know into the system -- Daily Challenge requires a Facebook username and password. Future versions will allow non-Facebook members to register, as well.
Each Daily Challenge arrives via e-mail with an explanation about how it contributes to your well-being, along with a "fun fact" intended to engage you in that day's activity. Grounded in the well-being domains identified in the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, and carefully vetted against scientific research, the Challenges cover topics and behaviors ranging from healthy eating and physical activity to emotional health and life evaluation.
One day's Challenge might be to eat fruits and vegetables in at least three different colors, for example; the next day's could be to contact a friend or relative you haven't spoken with recently, draw a 'pie chart' of your life, or climb a set of stairs.
"In the past, most interventions around behavioral change were attempts to hit 'home runs,' like losing 10 or 15 pounds all at once," noted MeYou Health scientific advisor Nathan Cobb, M.D. "You never tried to hit a single. Daily Challenge is based on evidence that small changes can not only be achieved but sustained over time."
Developed by well-being, healthcare and gaming experts, Daily Challenge allows users to earn points, collect stamps and achieve new levels as they complete each Challenge. "All of this is meant to provide a sense of momentum, giving you an opportunity to celebrate a win every day," said Trapper Markelz, head of product for MeYou Health.
"As Daily Challenge grows we plan to offer not just daily challenges, but entire programs that help you work on yourself and support others to improve well-being," added Markelz. "It should be a really exciting year as we continue to expand on this platform introducing new content, mobile applications for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and tools to help you form meaningful support groups."
Daily Challenge was beta-tested this spring and summer by a group of 1,500 volunteers who completed more than 30,000 challenges. Users can start getting Daily Challenges delivered to their inboxes now by signing up for free at the MeYou Health website.
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