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The 5 apps approved to prescribe and monitor Wegovy on the NHS
We take a look at what they offer
Jodie
November 01, 2023
Image: www.weightloss.buzz
Weight Loss News is for health consumers wanting to know more about weight loss products and medication. We bring you the news on the latest weight loss trends, breakthrough medications, buying advice, and tips for losing weight well.
THE 5 APPS APPROVED TO PRESCRIBE AND MONITOR WEGOVY ON THE NHS
NICE (the National Institute for Health & Care Excellence) has approved five apps for use in prescribing and monitoring GLP-1 weight management medication, which you may know better as Wegovy and Saxenda - the weekly and daily weight loss injections or ‘skinny jabs’ that are shaking up the weight loss industry. The apps are:
Gro Health W8Buddy for prescribing and monitoring weight-management medicine;
Liva for tracking weight-management medicine;
Oviva for prescribing and monitoring weight-management medicine;
Roczen for prescribing and monitoring weight-management medicine; and
Second Nature for prescribing and monitoring weight-management medicine.
So what's the significance of these five apps approved by NICE? The NHS is currently running a 2-year trial with up to 50,000 people in England, trailing the use of these medications. These apps have been approved for use in prescribing and monitoring weight loss medication. It’s big news for the owners of these apps, who currently either offer a direct-to-consumer product, or work via the NHS, or both.
Of the five apps, only Second Nature currently discusses a medicated plan on its website, but we believe has been gearing up to deliver Semaglutide (Wegovy) for some time. What these apps offer today is likely to change in light of the announcement.
These apps may already be interesting if you’re on a weight loss journey; indeed they pitch themselves as helpful to manage or reverse type 2 diabetes, to lose weight, and to improve overall health. Some require referrals from your GP, others can be accessed directly by health-conscious consumers.
It’s quite a mixed bag. While they are all keen to prove their efficacy for weight loss and type 2 diabetes reversal, they are not all household names. Some are relatively small businesses with few app store ratings to prove their customer satisfaction. What they all tend to have in common is goal setting and tracking, content, learning, tips and tricks, recipes and meal plans and of course the now ubiquitous ‘behaviour change’! Yep, they all want to change your behaviour to eat different foods in smaller quantities. (It used to be called a diet.)
Any apps, not just the five approved by NICE, that are pivoting their business model to prescribe weight loss injections face a challenge. How can they legitimately stand by their previous ‘method’ when they are now so keen to switch to offering a medicated route? Even WW recently disappointed its fans with its support for medicated weight loss. There’s clearly a balance to be found between ‘behaviour change’ and medication.
These aren't the five apps that will “only ever” prescribe weight management medication for the NHS, they are just the first; the five could later be joined by others. Indeed NICE says “More research is needed on using the following digital weight-management technologies: CheqUp, Juniper and Wellbeing Way.
So what do you do if you like the look of one of these and want to give it a try? Well, if you want to go the NHS route you’ll need to talk to your GP and if you’re eligible you’ll be referred to a specialist weight management provider. Gro Health, Roczen and Second Nature offer paid programmes from £9.99, £30 and £28 respectively.
We take a quick look at the apps given the nod from NICE.
Gro Health - https://www.grohealth.com/
Strapline: Be your best you
App Store Rating 4.4 (92)
Features
Tailored education
On-demand content
Recipes
Community support
Virtual meetups - weekly
Health tracking toolkit / HealthKit integration
AI food diary
1:1 coaching is £19.99 month extra
Pricing: £9.99 / month, £26.99 / quarter, £99.99 / year
Liva - https://livahealthcare.com/
Strapline: Better health outcomes through our evidence-based, digital-first lifestyle change platform
App Store Rating 4.6 (2k)
Features
A personal health coach
1:1 live video call with your coach
Goal-setting and tracking
Weekly coach check-ins and feedback
Personalised nutrition advice & recipes
Science-backed behaviour change tips
Liva Learning universe
Exercise and wellness activities
Stress management tips
Group support
Pricing: Free to the end user via NHS referral
Oviva - https://oviva.com/uk/en/
Strapline: Better health for good.
App Store Rating 4.6 (8.4k)
Features
Personalised health coaching
Group Coaching
Digital tools
Personalised nutrition support and tips
Goal setting and tracking
Food diary
Pricing: Free to the end user via NHS referral
Roczen - https://www.roczen.com/
Strapline: Weight Management or Type 2 Diabetes. We've figured it out.
App Store Rating 5 (1)
Features
Personalised coaching from your own clinician
Mentor support
Digital app
Recipes, exercises, life hacks
Rewards programme
Pricing: £30 per month
Second Nature - https://www.secondnature.io/
Strapline: Second nature isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle change.
App Store Rating 4.3 (53)
Features
Personalised weight loss programme
Ongoing 1-1 nutritionist support
Improved mood, sleep, energy
Recipes and meal plans
‘Behaviour change’
Pricing: From £28/month
As always we’d love to hear your views. Have you tried any of these apps for medicated weight loss or otherwise? What do you like about them?
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB
Here’s our weight loss news and opinions roundup from around the web this week. Fake weight loss drugs are in the news again; this time with serious side effects, plus - the awful truth that being thin can make you richer…
Plus:
Shedding fat without losing muscle is next weight-loss target for pharma giant - Sydney Morning Herald
Weight Loss Tip 18: What it takes to lose a pound of fat
Image: Weight Loss News
This week in our regular Weight Loss Tip, we took a look at what it takes to lose a pound of fat, actually. Read more here.
STUFF WE LOVE
We bring you a selection of lush stuff each week to help support your weight loss journey. This week we love…
Gut Wealth
Gut Wealth has created an all-round digestive health supplement via unique liquid sachets formulated with digestion-boosting, vitamin, mineral and postbiotic ingredients.
The company is “breaking down the stigma of gut health issues, one sachet at a time.” Find out more here.
We hope you’ve enjoyed Weight Loss News this week. If you have, please share this newsletter with your friends. We wish you every success on your healthy weight loss journey.
Until next time,