Powered by Shape Up The Nation, a wellness company focused on leveraging the power of trusted social networks to promote healthy living, Aetna Health Connections Get Active! is being offered to large- and medium-sized employers who want to help employees of all health and fitness levels improve their overall health. The social networking platform is designed to unite employees to schedule group exercise opportunities, find colleagues with similar health interests, use online fitness and nutrition trackers and participate in team competitions. Participants can invite, challenge, track and motivate each other throughout the year. Aetna Health Connections Get Active! joins Aetna ™s full suite of health and wellness programs aimed at helping people achieve their optimal health.

We are proud to partner with Aetna to bring our employee wellness platform to their customers, said Mike Zani, Shape Up The Nation ™s chief executive officer. Research shows that trusted social networks can be harnessed to encourage healthy behaviors and increase the likelihood for success through peer motivation, support, and accountability. Aetna members will benefit greatly from this powerful new tool for improving their health.

Get Active Aetna results

Aetna has used a variety of wellness programs, including its own Get Active Aetna program, now in its third year. More than 20,000 Aetna employees actively participated in the program in 2009. In 2008, nearly 60 percent of employees participated and as a whole, participants walked the equivalent of 132 times around the earth's equator. This year, Aetna employees walked 3.9 million miles or the equivalent of circling the equator 156 times.

An online demo of Aetna Health Connections Get Active! is available to reporters who request it.

Source: Aetna