In our modern world, smartphones are like our trusty sidekicks, helping us with more than just calls and texts. They've become super useful in tracking our health too! From keeping an eye on our exercise and sleep to helping us manage health issues, smartphones have become our partners in staying healthy. This article is all about how smartphones team up with health apps and cool wearable gadgets to give us helpful information about our well-being. They're like our health buddies, showing us data and tips to make better choices for our health. So, let's dive in and learn how our smartphones are like personal health assistants, guiding us towards a healthier and happier life!
Health Tracking on the Go
The most popular fitness trackers offer more than just a simple count of steps and calories burned. With the help of companion apps, they can also provide insight into dietary habits, stress levels, heart rate variability (HRV), sleep patterns and much more.
For example, some trackers have built-in inertial sensors that can automatically detect PA type and intensity level when combined with GPS logging and the app’s motion sensing features for more accurate and advanced metrics than traditional pedometers alone. This avoids the need for specialized wearable devices incorporating that same sensor hardware and can reduce costs, complexity and battery-power needs.
Apple and some competitors have also recently added an FDA-cleared ECG (electrocardiogram) monitoring app to their smartwatches, which can detect irregular heartbeats like A-fib, a leading cause of stroke and blood clots. For example, the Health app on iPhone can store this information along with your weight, blood pressure and glucose data.
Fitness Apps At Your Smartphones
Fitness apps are designed to encourage users to take charge of their health. They help them to monitor their daily activities, track steps, and count calories. Some fitness applications also provide nutrition advice and a meal-planning feature.
Some fitness applications include a workout planner where users can select the exercise they want and customize a plan. They can also add details like age, weight, height, and other essential information to ensure the app works as expected.
Moreover, these apps usually have an FAQ section to address queries from the users. Lastly, they should be capable of synchronizing with other devices, especially wearables like smartwatches.
Some popular fitness apps include SWEAT, Grokker, ClassPass, Physique 57, and TRX Workout. They bring the feel of boutique group fitness classes into the user’s home with live and on-demand videos that are both motivating and challenging.
Wellness at Your Fingertips
With all the new technology available, finding tools to track our daily fitness routines and monitor health data is accessible. However, it's been more challenging for Americans to embrace digital health tools that help with mental wellness and other non-physical issues.
For example, Google's online record-keeping site for medical records was halted after fewer people signed up to store their mental health notes and mammogram reports on the platform. Privacy concerns might be one reason patients have hesitated to trust these apps with sensitive information.
Fortunately, many other digital health tools are out there to ease us into wellness and help us manage the various aspects of our lives. Penn Today highlights five of the most useful.
Nutrition Assistance
The latest digital health tools provide a convenient and easy way to manage fitness goals, monitor physical condition and achieve better wellness. As a result, they are fueling the growth of the wellness and fitness application market globally.
In addition to fitness tracking apps, wearables and telemedicine are also helping to revolutionize the healthcare industry. These innovative tools can be used for various purposes, including remote monitoring of heart rate and blood oxygen levels. We may see in the future, that these devices could reduce healthcare system costs and improve patient outcomes.
We expect to see the use of digital health tools continue to evolve. In particular, we will see more people using trackers and smartphones applications to monitor their health and nutrition and change their daily diet. This whole-person approach to well-being can promote community, boost employee engagement and satisfaction, and empower individuals to take ownership of their health.
Sleep Tracking and Improvement
Smartphones have many sensors, including cameras and lights; accelerometers, which detect body movements; gyroscopes; proximity and light detectors; and speakers. Developers are leveraging these capabilities to transform smartphones into digital healthcare tools that perform diagnostic functions at the point of care.
For example, Bright lamp's “stethoscope” app uses a smartphones built-in microphone to monitor a patient’s heartbeat and breathing. It can also assess the severity of a concussion and screen for atrial fibrillation.
Such apps could have a significant impact on URM populations in resource-limited environments. However, URM patients need to feel comfortable using such technologies. This involves ensuring their data is securely stored and accessible only by them and their medical professionals. It also requires that apps avoid displaying any implicit bias. In addition, they need the option to delete their data from a device at anytime. This is necessary to prevent data breaches that violate users’ trust.
Heart Rate Monitoring
One of the most critical metrics for fitness tracking is your heart rate. Whether your goal is to maintain a healthy heart rate or to increase your maximum heart rate, a heart-rate monitor can make all the difference.
The oldest and most reliable devices use chest straps to detect electrical signals produced with each heartbeat. These signals are transmitted to a digital device like a watch or smartphones.
Wrist-based heart rate monitors have recently become more popular. They use various methods to detect electrical signals, including LED light reflected off blood vessels. Some of the most accurate devices also see oxygen saturation (SpO2) and have built-in GPS capability.
Some devices, such as the Apple Watch Series 4 and beyond, use electrodes built into the Digital Crown and back of the device to measure electrocardiograms (ECG). These are a more precise form of heart-rate monitoring than older options such as finger or wrist measurements.
The Social Side of Health
The number of smartphones apps and wearable devices that monitor health indicators has increased significantly in recent years. They allow users to track various indicators, including physical activity, weight, diet, sleep, sedentary behaviour, and heart rate.
The large-scale data collected by these devices and apps provides a new opportunity to study health behaviours in the real world rather than in controlled laboratory settings. These observations reveal various environmental and social factors that influence healthy habits.
Apps are often designed to improve health by encouraging users to engage in positive behaviours through features like rewards, social networks, and challenges. However, these apps must be used regularly to produce effects. In addition, they must be perceived as effective in improving health outcomes. This is a necessary construct to measure, and we developed a simple measurement instrument for fitness applications to assess perceptions of ease of use and perceived effectiveness. Best Guest Posting Website
Challenges and Rewards
Digital self-tracking can include apps and wearable devices that record and monitor embodied practices and actions. These include fitness bands and smartwatches with biometric sensors (such as heart rate), movement and location sensors like GPS, and wearable devices that track a range of personal health and wellness metrics, including hydration and sleep.
While these tools can provide motivation, they can also be a source of anxiety and discouragement for some. Qualitative sociological research on young people’s relationships with their fitness trackers has documented disillusionment and frustration over inaccurate data, the authority their fitness trackers assume in their lives (even when they are not always accurate), and how their fitness information is sold or shared.
In addition to the benefits that savvy fitness professionals can leverage with new technology, online wellness platforms have the potential to promote community and help individuals take greater accountability for their health. These are trends to watch for in the future of digital health.
Digital Health Integration
Digital health has quickly moved from a nascent industry to an integrated healthcare solution. As such, stakeholders need to understand how digital health tools can be used for improved consumer experiences and healthcare outcomes.
For example, many interviewees cited using digital health solutions to conduct remote health assessments as a successful strategy for moving from a treatment model to a care and wellness approach. However, this approach must be paired with human interaction to ensure consumers feel connected and supported throughout the journey.
Getting started on an integration roadmap requires forethought and planning. Including comprehensive specifications for data exchange between systems is crucial to avoid potential technical challenges in the future. A reliable digital health partner can establish a strong integration framework, ensuring a smooth patient and caregiver journey. Initiate with app less options like Live Chat, LiveAgent, or AI Virtual Assistants to simplify user experience by eliminating multiple logins and downloads. If you are having too old phone for these apps, then you can also sell old phone online for best price.
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