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Th e HEALTH | FEBRUARY, 2019
TECH & INNOVATION
Keeping
healthy,
digitally
Naluri aims to make health
advice and counselling more
accessible and eff ective
through live chat and AI
machine learning
W
E all have an app or two on our
phones that make our life just a
tiny bit easier. Th ere is practically
an app for almost everything,
including ones made specifi cally
for health.
And health apps ranges from being a motivator for
you to keep fi t and keep healthy (prevention), to being
a booking platform to arrange an appointment with
doctors (cure). Naluri Life, helmed by Azran Osman-
Rani, aims to make health a more prevalent part of
your daily life.
Azran was the CEO of Air Asia X, and later the CEO
of ifl ix Malaysia. What some may not know is that
Azran went through a massive transformation in his
life, from being an overweight and unhealthy person to
an accomplished triathlete. Keeping healthy resonates
a lot with him, and it was his journey in becoming
healthier is what fueled the creation of Naluri.
DIGITAL SPACE FOR HEALTH: Azran
explains that Naluri is a place for users to not
only communicate with health professionals,
but to also keep track of our lifestyle and make
changes when needed.
Health coaching and self-betterment
Inadequacies in healthcare
To understand the product that is Naluri is to fi rst
understand the problem. In this, Azran explains. “We
have to look at the problems with how healthcare is
being delivered. Th e way hospitals operates is what
I call, too ‘premise-centric’. You go to the hospital or
clinic, you see the doctor, and they tell you what you
need to do. But once you leave, the communication
simply stop.”
He also said that even though hospitals are mod-
ernized, the model goes back to a thousand years of
treating acute symptoms of diseases. Th e hospital is
a place to get the cure, and nothing more, so to speak.
“When in actuality, most of the problems we have as
a nation today are chronic diseases such as diabetes,
kidney disease, cancer, stroke, and obesity – more of
lifestyle diseases and can’t be fi xed with just some pills
and a treatment. You are stuck with it if you don’t have
a change in lifestyle,” he elaborates.
Apart from that, there is also a problem in us where
we know some things are bad for us, yet we still do it.
It has to do more with our will and mental resilience
rather than knowledge.
“We see that the government have spent billions of
dollars for health campaigns from smoking to cancer,
yet we can see that the approach is educational in
nature. Th e way healthcare is delivered is very ‘what-
to-do’ and ‘what-not-to-do’, as oppose to the why and
how, which is what is more needed now.”
Smokers know cigarettes are bad for them yet they
still smoke, and people who are overweight continues
to lead an unhealthy diet even though they know it is
bad for them. Th e problem isn’t knowledge, the problem
is the willingness to change.
To change our lifestyle, now that is where we defi -
nitely can’t just do with a visit or two to the hospital or
clinic, it starts from within. And for us human beings,
we need continuous support, motivation, and mental
resilience.
According to Azran, “We saw a gap in providing that
psychological support where people need to understand
the right level of motivation. Moving them from the
state of ‘I’m aware, but not ready to change’ to ‘I’m
aware and I am taking action’. Th ere’s a process and
methodology used for that.”
Th e approach is to do what psychologists do to treat
addiction or depression, and apply it to chronic disease
management.
We see that the
government have
spent billions of
dollars for health
campaigns from
smoking to cancer,
yet we can see
that the approach
is educational in
nature. The way
healthcare is
delivered is very
‘what-to-do’ and
‘what-not-to-do’,
as oppose to the
why and how,
which is what is
more needed now.”
The Naluri Life app not only provides chat
with health experts and lifestyle change
tips, but will also learn from your habits
through AI machine learning.
Naluri is essentially an app you can have on your phone,
which helps you to not only connect with a doctor or
health expert via chat, but to coach you into making
that lifestyle changes.
“We want to create a space where anyone can always
have access to professional healthcare providers.
Because you can only spend about 10 minutes with your
doctor before he needs to see multiple other patients
in the waiting room, you don’t have the time to chat,
learn, and explore in depth on what you may have and
how to tackle it.”
Azran and his team wants to make sure that every-
one using the app to be able to chat directly with the
healthcare professional, learn about the details of the
disease, and create ways to tackle it in a more well-
rounded approach.
Th e app also can keep track of what you eat and how
your diet is shaping up to be. Th e healthcare profession-
als you are connected to can then comment and fi nd
ways to help with your eff orts to improve.
Apart from having access to healthcare profession-
als, the team at Naluri Life have also developed an AI
(artifi cial intelligence) machine learning that studies
what you share with the doctors on the platform, and
molds a personalized healthcare plan for you along the
line.
Th e subscription-based app is for now, actively used
among employees or corporations Naluri Life has made
partnership with. Th e idea is that the most of the time,
lifestyle diseases correlates with work stresses, and
working employees make for suitable users of the app.
Although anyone with the means to subscribe can join.
Naluri Life is still on its early stages, and Azran and
his team are still collecting information and creating
results to prove its viability. Th eir dedication in provid-
ing a more complete health coaching space is highly
commendable, and we look forward for the future of
health with Naluri Life.
— Th e Health