Self Tracking Your Health
Self-tracking devices for health have received enthusiastic support from medical and public health professionals as key elements in the move towards personalised healthcare. However, their promise of empowerment also inspires polarised debates.
Many tracking tools encourage positive behavior by rewarding achievements and encouraging competition. They also aim to increase motivation through goal setting and provide personalised feedback.
Will Self tracking your health data increase over the next 5 years?
The articles in this special issue highlight the various ways people use and think about personal data acquired through self-tracking. This ranges from a desire to understand oneself better through visual representations of long term health-related data (as in the case of the work by Meyer and Hardey) to being pushed into self-tracking by others, such as children who are required to track their physical activity with apps or devices or employees participating in workplace ‘wellness’ programs.
Several studies have found that different dependent variables influence the adoption and continued usage of personal tracking technologies. These include perceived empowerment and personalization (as mediated by need for cognitive closure) as well as intrinsic motivation, inspiration and sense of purpose. More research is needed to examine the antecedents of these variables from a micro-level perspective. Additionally, the way that tracked personal data assemblages become embedded in ideas about identity and embodiment requires further exploration. This could be done through longitudinal research on the evolution of consumers’ acceptance levels of personal tracking technologies.
What does Apple and Fitbit say?
Apple and Fitbit offer a range of health, fitness and smartwatch features that can measure heart rate, sleep, workouts, and more. Depending on the model you choose, both brands also feature GPS and advanced health monitoring capabilities.
The latest Apple Watch Series 4 includes a built-in ECG (electrocardiogram) sensor that can detect irregular heartbeats and potentially help you avoid a stroke or other heart problems. Other advanced features include a temperature sensor for ovulation tracking, fall detection and an advanced gyroscope that can be used to identify patterns of inactivity that might indicate high blood pressure or low oxygen levels.
However, a story published by MIT Technology Review noted that doctors have mixed opinions about fitness trackers’ ability to collect and curate personal health data. While some find it useful, others see patients bringing in data like counted steps and calories burned as “just a data dump.” Companies such as Cardiologs are attempting to address this issue by offering AI-backed services that help doctors sift through the mountains of data collected by devices with quasi-medical aspirations.
How do you track your health?
Health and fitness apps are among the most popular in Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Known by various terms, including the quantified self, self-monitoring and lifelogging, they can be used for tracking personal data to improve wellbeing or support chronic disease management.
While many studies on these technologies focus on analyzing motivations and practices, there is still much to be explored. For example, as the number of people tracking their health increases, how do they interact with each other online? What is the impact of sharing their results on social media? How do participants balance their own goals and needs for support with social media norms and etiquette?
Further, how do those who track their health feel when they compare invisible or inaccurate data with their real experiences? This is especially important for groups that are encouraged or coerced to use self-tracking technology such as people with chronic diseases and those being monitored by their doctors.
What are the benefits of tracking your health?
A growing number of people are using tracking apps to monitor things like their sleep, heart rate and diet. The goal is to gain a better understanding of the impact these habits have on their health and improve their overall well-being.
The Quantified Self movement and its promise of greater self-knowledge through numbers is at the center of the debate around health-tracking devices. However, the trust placed in quantitative data and a tendency to see one’s life as a series of categories that neatly capture data often results in disempowering individuals (e.g., Sharon and Zandbergen 2016).
In addition, the promises made about increased empowerment based on individual responsibility reflect a discursive framework that has become pervasive in government policies on PHC and the healthcare industry in general. This discourse posits that decreasing the burden of disease and medical costs can only be achieved through the active engagement of citizens. This is, in turn, achieved through increased individual responsibility and personalization, as exemplified by the use of self-tracking devices.
OnePhenix is the only IPAAS software that connects your wearable data to your healthcare professionals. www.Onephenix.com.au
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/self-tracking-your-health-data-wearables/