An informed customer is an empowered customer, especially around their health
The Sports Science Institute of South Africa is bolstered through its academic affiliation and partnership with UCT’s Health through Physical Activity, Lifestyle, and Sport Research Centre (Faculty of Health Sciences). This collaboration merges two distinctive areas, namely research and evidence-based practice by transforming data and research findings to into actionable insights to help consumers in the health and wellness industry to stay informed and continue making decisions that will improve their efforts to maintain and improve healthy and active lifestyles. Research articles can be difficult to read and apply, and both SSISA and UCT have adopted the practice of knowledge translation, meaning that we take published scientific works into bite-sized pieces of information. This facilitates an easier approach of knowledge transfer to the consumer across a variety of subject areas (i.e. medical, scientific, and health research findings). For many companies, insights from published scientific works may assist in leveraging the use of credible research and knowledge for tangible consumer benefits.
A recent study by Lee and colleagues (2020) highlighted that while companies provide products and services that are accessible to the public, that their role is to also keep their customers informed through the dissemination and communication of scientific information. The Sports Science Institute of South Africa exists to positively impact lives and to make our services, interventions, and expertise accessible. We are committed to the dissemination of research findings in a variety of subject areas within the Sports Science discipline, and communicate these research insights using various multimedia channels. SSISA works in alongside HPALS Research Centre (UCT) to make sports-specific and health-related research findings available. The dissemination of scientific data and information is crucial for enhancing consumer knowledge and understanding, especially in the health and wellness sector.
What if My company does not have access to the scientific body of knowledge?
The SSISA-UCT collaboration has been in place since 1994, and has made incredible in-roads into both the academic and consumer market spaces, using research (inclusive of clinical and market research) as its cornerstone to inform practice, policy and process. For more information about how SSISA could assist your organization, our experts are ready to take your research question or product/service to the next level, especially in the fields of health, wellness, sports performance. Our insight offerings are as follows:- Informed Choice
SSISA empowers consumers with relevant information, enabling them to make decisions that align with their preferences, needs, and values. From the latest published research findings on various topics, SSISA provides practical recommendations to assist consumers in making informed decisions about a product/service, often at the point of sale. For companies wanting to provide quick facts about their products and services to assist their clientele to be more informed of its purpose, SSISA recommends the Informed Choice option.
- Product Brief
A Product Brief is a valuable tool that provides retailers with concise, comprehensive information about products that enhance sports performance and health. Sometimes, consumers are wanting just a little more than a few facts or insights to be fully informed. The Product Brief option is designed in a way to deconstruct a product or service in a simplified but engaging way for consumers to learn more about the purpose of the product/service, its contents (nutritionally as well), its benefits, its technical specifications and usage instructions.
E.g. Kinesiology Tape has been developed to aid muscle movement and enhance athletic performance, but if an area of the body has an infection, such as a rash or a sunburn, then kinesiology tape should not be applied in the vicinity of the infection
- Product Validation
Product validation not only reinforces the integrity of product claims but also fosters a transparent relationship between consumers, manufacturers, and retailers. With SSISA and HPALS UCT, your product can be retrospectively validated or validated prior to taking the product to market. This type of research approach will take products of the company through a series of appropriate tests and assessments. The evaluation of a product, using research and scientific approaches as a backdrop, may help the company to verify the product's claims in the consumer market, and helps the product gain an increased interest as it has gone through a process of investigation with experts at HPALS UCT and SSISA.
- Product Development Solutions
Through SSISA and HPALS UCT, we offer expert guidance, market analysis, innovation strategies, and resource optimization for consumer-centric solutions, emphasizing sustainability practices and continuous support for product innovation. As such, we are available to present product/service feasibility, possible benefits and short-comings, and most importantly, recommendations and solutions that could be explored to overcome challenges associated with the development of new products and service.
- Clinical Research
SSISA, in partnership with UCT's Research Centre for Health through Physical Activity, Lifestyle, and Sport (HPALS), conducts ethically cleared human-level research in various disciplines, including physical activity, sleep science, nutrition, and wellbeing. Through the full academic suite, the research could be added to post-graduate degrees that are underway, or a new research project can be explored in its entirety, with the potential to publish findings in a peer-reviewed academic journal.
Key Highlights:
- Groundbreaking Research: Conducts cutting-edge research in sports performance, injury prevention, and overall health.
- Diverse Disciplines: Extends beyond sports medicine to encompass 18 disciplines, including physiotherapy, dietetics, podiatry, and psychology.
- Patient-Centric Approach: Aims to optimize patient care, promoting evidence-based practices and a public health approach to research and treatment.
- Practical Impact: Directly benefits patients, athletes, and the broader community with insights on injury management, rehabilitation, and lifestyle interventions.
SSISA and HPALS UCT are leaders in providing data-driven solutions for enhancing consumer decision-making and optimizing processes for the mobilisation of products and services. Incorporating insights from reputable scientific works allows companies to enhance consumer trust, promote informed decision-making, and to develop products and/or services that align with consumer needs and preferences. A product or service that has gone through a rigorous process of investigation, testing, assessment and evaluation creates further trust amongst consumers, and in-turn fosters trust between the consumer and the company's product/service.
We encourage companies in the health, wellness, fitness and sports performance sectors to adopt research-related practices and communicate information about products/services. It is believed that "information is power," and our responsibility, at SSISA and UCT, is to empower consumers by making research findings, insights, and new discoveries, accessible, always. We endeavour to help individuals to be able to make informed decisions about their health, to improve their health, maintain their health, and to adopt positive behaviours to sustain their health.
If you are wanting to reach out to SSISA and HPALS UCT on behalf of your company, we welcome your inquiry on the website, or emailing research@ssisa.com and our teams will be in touch with you about the best solutions for your organization. Feel free to find out more about each of our insights or research options - Who knows, you may find something that suits your company perfectly. If not, reach out to us in any case, as we would love the opportunity to tailor an approach to suit the needs of your company and its clientele.
