Personal wellness coach via app, text and video chat

Kumu is a health, wellness and fitness app which pairs users up with a wellness coach who creates personalized goals for them.

Fitness apps and motivational robots are all very well and good, but most goals are more achievable with encouragement from a real live human being. Kumu is a health, wellness and fitness app which pairs users up with a wellness coach who creates personalized goals for them. Users can then communicate with their coach regularly via their smartphone using unlimited texts, picture messages and a monthly video chat.

Kumu combines the data led approach of fitness trackers — drawing information from apps such as FitBit Charge or Apple Health Kit — with the personal touch of a traditional fitness instructor. Users begin by downloading the free app and creating a profile: Kumu collects fitness data from the users smartphone before assigning a coach and undertaking motivational interviewing. Next, the coach creates small, achievable goals — such as swapping out coffee for water with breakfast, doing a set of exercises or cutting down on cigarettes — these will depend of the users needs and objectives. Users can then communicate with their coach — showing off a healthy salad they’ve prepared for lunch or having a five minute motivational video chat when they are thinking of skiving off from an exercise class. There is a also a ‘team’ section where users can show off completed goals and congratulate each other with virtual high fives.

Kumu costs USD 19.99 per month. Are there other ways to bring the human touch back to health tracking?