AIA Australia extends cancer care program to health customers

Major life, health, and wellbeing insurer AIA Australia has extended its CancerAid program to AIA Health Insurance (AIA Health) customers after four years of seeing the program's positive impact on life insurance customers.

Founded by oncologists in 2015, CancerAid is a health technology company that provides a coaching program to improve patients' clinical outcomes and change what having cancer means to people, their colleagues, and their families.

The new partnership between AIA Health and CancerAid gives customers diagnosed with cancer access to Cancer Coach – an educational, behavioural change program that aims to support people living with cancer to take back control of their cancer care.

“At AIA Australia, our purpose is to make a difference in people's lives. A cancer diagnosis can have a devastating impact on the livelihoods of our customers and those around them; however, tools such as the CancerAid Coach program can make a significant positive impact,” said AIA Australia CEO and managing director Damien Mu.

“Through our AIA Embrace network, we have been able to establish a meaningful and strong relationship with CancerAid over the last few years.

“This has enabled us to publish leading research together and empower many of our life insurance customers while they are undergoing treatment for cancer.”

Dr. Raghav Murali-Ganesh, oncologist and the CEO and co-founder of CancerAid, said: “We are thrilled to announce the extension of our successful partnership with AIA Australia, reflecting the positive impact we've been able to achieve for their life insurance customers.

“This extension is a testament to the strength of our partnership and our shared commitment to delivering holistic support and care for those impacted by a cancer diagnosis.”

Positive impacts of the CancerAid Cancer Coach program

The CancerAid Cancer Coach program has been seen to increase successful return-to-work outcomes and improve patients' overall symptoms, according to a report.

In late 2021, AIA Australia and CancerAid released their report about the impact of the Cancer Coach program. They found the following:

• Patients in the program were 73% more likely to return to work;
• Thirty-nine percent of patients in the program reported improved symptoms; and
• Patients return to work on average 16.5 weeks earlier than patients receiving regular care alone.

“Cancer is a disease that affects us all, and we believe that cancer care should be accessible to everyone,” Dr. Murali-Ganesh said. “At CancerAid, we understand that cancer can be isolating. That's why our programs aim to ensure that participants feel supported, maintain connections, and adopt positive behaviour changes.

“With the support of AIA Australia, we can empower cancer patients to take control of their journey and feel like they're in the driver's seat.

AIA Health will share more information about CancerAid with its customers in the coming weeks.