Adding healthy years to life: Why preventive healthcare is moving beyond one-size-fits-all screening

IT IS time for your annual health screening. The choices can be overwhelming: advanced scans, genetic tests, biomarker panels and ever-more comprehensive packages. Amid all the options, one question is worth asking: Does having more tests necessarily lead to better health outcomes? 

“Not always,” says Dr Sue-Anne Toh, chief executive officer and co-founder of Novi Health, a private healthcare provider. 

“The value of a health screening lies not in the volume of data collected, but in identifying the insights that matter most to an individual and translating them into action,” adds Dr Toh who is also a senior consultant in the field of endocrinology at Novi Health. 

Excessive testing, in some cases, can create unnecessary anxiety, offer false reassurance or provide surface findings that are not clinically significant for that individual, adds Dr Toh.

Dr Kyle Tan, preventive medicine consultant and Novi Health co-founder concurs: “People sometimes pursue extensive testing out of a desire for certainty, or because they’ve been influenced by wellness trends – not because those tests are clinically appropriate for them,” he says. “Not every test is actionable for everyone.”

Instead, preventive healthcare is increasingly shifting towards a more personalised approach – one that considers an individual’s genetics, family history, lifestyle habits, stress levels, sleep patterns and long-term health goals, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all checklist of tests.

“It isn’t about the volume of tests administered or generating as much data as possible,” says Dr Toh. “It’s about identifying which information is genuinely meaningful for that individual – and then helping them act on it sustainably. The test is only the beginning. What matters most is what actions you take next.”

Moving towards a more personalised approach

Based on targeted and essential fact-finding, this personalised approach focuses on good preventive healthcare and is also often referred to as precision health.

“It draws on genetics, lifestyle, environment, medical history, metabolic markers and personal goals – and uses that full picture to create a prevention and care strategy that is relevant for that person,” Dr Tan explains.

According to him, two people of the same age may require very different screening approaches and interventions, depending on their risk profiles.

For instance, a 45-year-old who appears outwardly healthy may have a strong family history of cardiovascular disease, elevated inflammatory markers, chronic sleep disruption and high occupational stress.

Meanwhile, another of similar appearance may have healthy metabolic markers, no family history of cardiometabolic disease and a relatively stable lifestyle. Their risks and the interventions they require can differ significantly.

“One may require more aggressive cardiovascular prevention and stress management support while the other may benefit more from metabolic optimisation and strength training,” explains Dr Toh.

The goal, she adds, is to identify the right information at the right time.

“The real value lies in pinpointing what is clinically meaningful for that individual – and then ensuring those findings lead to practical, evidence-based action,” she adds.

From lifespan to healthspan

This shift towards personalised preventive care comes amid a global rise in chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and metabolic disorders.

The National Population Health Survey 2024 found that diabetes rates rise sharply with age – from 1.8 per cent among adults aged 30 to 39 to about 20 per cent among those aged 60 to 74 between 2023 and 2024. During the same timeframe, about one in eight Singapore residents aged 18 to 74 were found to be obese.

According to Dr Tan, many chronic diseases develop silently over years – sometimes even decades – before symptoms appear. Precision preventive health aims to spot earlier warning signs by looking at a broader picture of the person’s health. This may include biomarkers, metabolic health data, imaging results, family history and lifestyle factors.

“This broader picture can reveal early signals of insulin resistance, rising cardiovascular risk or signs of metabolic dysfunction – at a stage when they are often still silent,” explains Dr Tan. “Rather than waiting until a diagnosis is established, identifying these patterns earlier gives us room to intervene while the trajectory is still modifiable.”

For patients already living with chronic conditions, a more personalised approach can also help improve outcomes, adds Dr Toh.

Beyond avoiding disease, people are also increasingly thinking about how well they want to age. With people living longer, there is growing interest in the concept of healthspan – the number of years lived in good health.

“They want to stay independent, mentally sharp, physically capable, and able to enjoy life, family and work for as long as possible,” says Dr Tan, who has seen a rising trend in people becoming proactive about their health earlier in life, even before major symptoms or diagnoses emerge.

He shares that many people are often prompted to take their health more seriously after a turning point – be it a health scare, a diagnosis in a loved one, becoming parents or noticing a drop in energy levels.

“More people are becoming proactive earlier because they want to preserve quality of life, not simply because something has gone wrong. That is a meaningful cultural change,” Dr Tan adds.

Turning insights into lasting health habits

According to Dr Toh, healthy ageing is not simply determined by what happens in one’s later years, but by the physiological reserve built much earlier in life through factors such as muscle mass, metabolic health, sleep and cardiorespiratory fitness.

However, putting that knowledge into practice consistently can be challenging, even if one is already familiar with the basics of good health.

“The most powerful interventions are often the least glamorous: sleep, movement, food, and mental well-being. What makes them powerful is consistency over time,” says Dr Tan.

The doctors point out that behaviour change is rarely a “knowledge problem”.

“Most people aren’t struggling because they lack information,” explains Dr Toh. “They are struggling because of competing pressures, ingrained habits, emotional relationships with food, time constraints and environments that don’t support the behaviours they are trying to sustain.”

At Novi Health, the focus is not just on identifying potential risks early, but also to help these patients turn those insights into sustainable lifestyle changes.

“We build a bridge between information and implementation,” explains Dr Tan. “Our physicians identify what matters clinically. Our health coaches, dietitians and fitness professionals then work with patients to translate that into practical plans that account for each patient’s actual lifestyle, schedule and goals.”

Rather than relying solely on periodic health assessments, this model allows care plans to evolve regularly alongside the patient’s health, routines and life stage. Digital tools, such as the Novi Health app, also let patients track their progress, access coaching and stay connected with their care team between appointments.

“The aim is not to tell patients what is wrong, but to help them make sustainable changes that compound over time to extend healthspan,” says Dr Toh.

“For those managing metabolic health or working toward long-term behaviour change, that continuity is often the difference between an intervention that holds and one that doesn’t.”

For more information, visit Novi-health.com.