A Personal Health Pathways next best action led Elizabeth (75) to uncover a silent risk - and take control of her bone health

When *Elizabeth (75), received a next best action recommendation from her Personal Health Pathways to go for a bone density test, she didn't think much of it.

• *Member's identity has been withheld to protect her privacy

"I'm generally healthy, so I didn't feel it was really necessary," she says. "Despite that, I decided to go ahead and take that next best action."

Powered by artificial intelligence and more than 80 million life years of data, Personal Health Pathways provides next best actions - personalised health prompts tailored to each adult member's age, risk profile and health history.

Elizabeth's Personal Health Pathways had suggested a few routine checks: a hearing test, bowel cancer screening, and the bone density scan. Elizabeth did all of them.

"Everything came back normal, except for the bone density test, which showed that my hips were significantly osteoporotic."

• Mayo Clinic describes osteoporosis as a condition that causes bones to become weak and brittle, increasing the risk of fractures even from minor bumps and falls, particularly in the hips, spine and wrists. The chance of osteoporosis increases significantly for women after menopause. Fractures in people with osteoporosis can lead to long-term disability and, in some cases, even death.

Personal Health Pathways had recommended that Elizabeth go for a bone density scan based on her age and unique health profile - before she showed any symptoms of osteoporosis. This highlights the power of preventative care, helping to close the gap between lifespan and healthspan by detecting conditions early and managing them effectively.

"As soon as the results came in, my doctor prescribed medicine to help strengthen my bones."

"I am so relieved my osteoporosis was picked up early"

"I am so relieved my osteoporosis was picked up early. A friend of mine fell in January 2025 without knowing she had osteoporosis. She fractured her hip and wrist. Six months later, she's only just starting to recover - it's affected her whole life."

"If you have a fall when your bones are brittle, it can be very serious - even fatal. At least now I know I have the condition, and I can manage it and hopefully lower my risk of injury and maintain my health and wellbeing."

Elizabeth received R500 into her Personal Health Fund after doing her bone density scan. Each action that Elizabeth completes contributes R500 to this fund, which she can use for day-to-day healthcare.  "That's already helped cover some of my other medical expenses," she adds.

Since then, Elizabeth's been telling her friends about Personal Health Pathways. "Personal Health Pathways is such a useful tool to stay on top of your health. It is incredible how my Pathway and next best actions highlighted things to me that I'd never have thought to check. These reminders help you act before things get serious. Early detection means getting treatment sooner, treatment is often easier to carry out, with better outcomes and it's usually cheaper too. Who doesn't want to stay healthy and independent as they get older?"

What is Personal Health Pathways?

Personal Health Pathways is a free tool available to adult DHMS members via the Discovery Health app. It provides personalised, real-time health recommendations called next best actions based on each member's unique profile. As a member's health journey evolves, so does their pathway, continuously updating based on their specific health status, risk profile and engagement patterns, dynamically adjusting as new health data become available.

Personal Health Pathways combines artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and behavioural science. The platform uses more than 50 million life years of health claims and clinical data, along with nearly 30 million life years of exercise and lifestyle data gathered through Vitality in South Africa, to recommend actions that have the greatest potential to improve health outcomes.

Each Personal Health Pathways cycle provides up to two clinical next best actions and one weekly exercise goal, which must be completed by a set date.

• Rich, personalised rewards and funds into your Personal Health Fund
• Members earn hyper-personalised rewards as they engage with PHP - Ðiscovery Miles, instant rewards and shopping vouchers, and those who are also Vitality members earn personalised PHP rewards in addition to their Vitality rewards.
• Members also can earn up to R500 into their Personal Health Fund for each completed action, up to a maximum of R10,000. The money that is accumulated in the Personal Health Fund can be used for day-to-day medical expenses, including GP and specialist consultations, medicine, radiology and pathology.