This summer, we brought our clients together for the first time since before the pandemic to learn more about the future of GoodShape. Below, we outline some of the key updates and features you can expect from us in the coming months and years.
Our vision
When we rebranded as GoodShape last year, it was more than just a name change... it was an identity shift.
In the past, we've been proud to help our clients manage absence, report on symptoms, and count the costs. But we know we can do more for you and your employees. We're developing a suite of tools that not only help you to identify the root causes of absence, but to drive positive change, improving both wellbeing and productivity.
At GoodShape, our driving purpose is clear: we want to create healthier companies.
We believe that when people thrive, organisations excel. By transforming the way organisations manage the wellbeing of their people, we hope to improve employees' quality of life, both inside and outside the workplace.
Our vision? To provide total wellbeing management.
We envisage a world where businesses organise themselves around wellbeing. Where they value their staff enough to make genuinely positive contributions to their people’s welfare. And we want to help this world become a reality.
With the support of our parent company MARCOL Health, we're on a mission to improve the wellbeing of 2 million people by 2026, and continue to save hundreds of lives each year.
GoodShape app
The GoodShape app is at the very core of our service evolution. Development is well under way, with user acceptance testing (UAT) scheduled across a diverse sample of clients in the coming months, and a full launch programme planned for H1 2023. And the best part is, there's no added cost.
Broadly, our app will address four key objectives:
- Improve wellbeing
- Increase engagement
- Improve accessibility
- Reduce absence
Currently, all the medical advice and support we provide to your employees is communicated verbally by our nurses. The app puts actionable, trackable advice at your employees’ fingertips, to further support a sooner, safer return to health and work.
In order to maintain the same high level of quality as you and your employees are used to, we've put people at the forefront of our development. We've ensured interactions with the app are as easy as speaking to a human, with clear and concise language at all times. We've also created a curated, personalised experience, so every user feels ownership over their care plan. And of course, we've ensured full transparency throughout with an emphasis on privacy and confidentiality for your employees' safety.
So, what are the key components of the GoodShape app?
Absence reporting
The app serves as an addition, not a replacement, to the way your employees currently report absences. Our phone lines will still be open 24/7, but with the app, we're introducing an exciting new feature: our Wellbeing Assistant chatbot.
Instead of being triaged by our nurse team, users will now be able to opt to answer questions through the app. It has all the same features as our absence line – including our unique, in-house developed and NHS-approved triage process – but gives your employees more autonomy over their absence reporting, also letting them choose a time that works for them if they need a nurse callback.
Even if employees only want advice, it's all easily accessible, and the option is still there to book an appointment if they want to speak to our nurse team.
User Profile
To further allow employees to customise their app experience, we've created a User Profile section with 7 key areas:
- Contact
- Security
- Medications
- Vaccinations
- Conditions
- Alcohol
- Smoking
None of this information will be shared with their employer, so your employees are free to use this area as their personal and confidential wellbeing hub. As well as a variety of customisation, accessibility and security settings, your employees will have complete transparency around their GoodShape medical record, with the option to input lifestyle information and receive guided advice. This section will also feature a comprehensive GoodShape FAQ to answer any queries.
Care Plans
One of the most exciting features of our app is our new Care Plan feature. In short, this is a timeline of activities that should be followed to help take care of yourself when you are injured or unwell, and will help employees get back to health as quickly and safely as possible. Care Plans will push daily medical advice to employees in the palm of their hand, eliminating the need for them to remember everything that was said on the phone, which can be especially difficult when you're feeling poorly.
For each absence, your employees will be given a Care Plan with 6 different activity types:
- Hydration - drinking fluids
- Food - eating appropriate foods
- Care - self-care direction and advice (such as dressing wounds, applying heat packs, washing eyes, etc.)
- Rest - rest and recovery activities
- Mind - stress-relieving activities and positive actions
- Exercise - physical exercise, stretches, workouts, etc.
For each day of their absence, employees will have a set list of activities to perform, putting them in charge of their recovery.
Wellbeing Advice Library
Last, but by no means least, is our Wellbeing Advice Library - a comprehensive resource with over 100 care sheets across allergies, wellness, illness, work, and crisis situations. Each page has been carefully written by our Strategy and Governance teams, with corresponding videos featuring our nurses and wellbeing partners.
In our fully searchable library, your employees can access:
- Video advice and exercise demonstrations
- Symptom guides
- Advice
- Worry signs
- Signposting
- Tips for work
- References and useful links
GoodShapeCentral
Alongside the release of our app, we are also now supporting single sign-on (SSO) via Open ID & Microsoft Azure, allowing you to choose whether you'd like to permit employees to sign into GoodShape with their Microsoft account.
API Developer Hub
We've built our API Developer Hub with 3 key objectives in mind:
- Reduced data maintenance - the API will enable clients to replace manual data maintenance processes (such as SIP files) with automated processes, saving time and increasing reliability.
- Improved availability - absence data is currently exported from GoodShape for the purposes of payroll reports on a weekly or monthly basis. By making an API available, clients can export absence data on a customised schedule.
- Increased accuracy - the API will ensure employee records are kept up to date quicker, meaning that reports will reflect staff changes with greater immediacy and accuracy.
Data records will include details of on employee records, absence records, and reference list (i.e., staff groups) and will allow admin users to:
- Get read-only information to use in your HR and Payroll systems
- Post new data directly from external applications to the GoodShapeCentral database
- Put revised data from external applications directly into GoodShapeCentral
- Delete existing GoodShapeCentral data (excluding change logs and audit histories)
With 16 API endpoints available for the app's first release and more to be added later, registering and linking applications is easy. Your IT teams can even test the API call manually.
The future of GoodShape
The GoodShape app is just one of several service innovations we're currently working on. Stay tuned in the coming months for more news on:
- Cloud technology - to improve reporting, analysis, platform reliability and storage capacity, we'll soon be migrating our IT systems onto the Cloud.
- Health Intelligence - coming next year, your HR team will be able to start forecasting potential absences and staff turnover using our range of high-accuracy data models.
- Fit notes - in line with new UK Government legislation, our nurses will soon be able to provide fit notes for absences longer than 7 calendar days.
- Mental health support - we're currently establishing an offering which will include over 100 pieces of mental health content, as well as an additional chat and video therapy service for your employees.
