By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    benefits of using protein powder to build muscles
    Protein Powder for Muscle Mass: Everything You Need to Know
    December 12, 2021
    changes brought on by blockchain in healthcare
    Technology In The Healthcare Industry
    March 28, 2022
    What Does Core Body Temperature Say About Health?
    August 17, 2022
    Latest News
    How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
    July 17, 2025
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    On My Mind
    September 23, 2011
    Health Care and Social Media… The Need For TACTICAL Guidance – Video
    October 27, 2011
    Obesity Explained
    December 2, 2011
    Latest News
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
    How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
    July 17, 2025
    How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
    July 17, 2025
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Guiding Principles for Connected Health Design
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Wellness > Guiding Principles for Connected Health Design
Wellness

Guiding Principles for Connected Health Design

JosephKvedar
JosephKvedar
Share
7 Min Read
SHARE

Connected health has enormous capacity as a tool to promote behavior change (in my opinion better than any other toolset we have).  However when poorly implemented, it fails like any other poorly implemented strategy.  In 18 years, have I learned all there is to know about connected health implementation? Surely not or I’d retire and find something else to do.

Connected health has enormous capacity as a tool to promote behavior change (in my opinion better than any other toolset we have).  However when poorly implemented, it fails like any other poorly implemented strategy.  In 18 years, have I learned all there is to know about connected health implementation? Surely not or I’d retire and find something else to do. I gain new insights every day.  However, I do see a set of reproducible outcomes when programs have certain design characteristics, so I thought I’d write about them for a few posts.  Rather than make this a textbook-like rendition, I am going to use particular examples from the marketplace that illustrate these principles done well.

Chances are, even if you follow the connected health industry, you have not heard of a firm called Fitlinxx. This is a small Massachusetts based firm and they’ve always been a bit ahead of the marketplace when it comes to activity monitoring.  Their technology illustrates two guiding principles:

Wear and Forget Sensors and

More Read

Call to Action: America’s Health Rankings Senior Report
How Wellness Centers Can Turn it Up a Notch to Drive Business
Quantifying Quality in Healthcare
Zinc and Testosterone – Does Zinc Support Testosterone Levels?
Protein Diet Overload

Automatic Data Upload

(Both of these guiding principles are subservient to the importance of objective data collection and the need to avoid data self-entry when possible.)

The first Fitlinxx device was called the actiped, and it clipped on your shoe to measure step counts.  The device has a low-energy radio in it and a watch battery providing about 3 months of device life.  It pairs with a USB antenna that you put in your computer.  Anytime you walk by any such USB antenna, the Actiped automatically uploads your step count to the Cloud.  These data can be viewed on the Fitlixx website or through a third party partner (more on that momentarily).  The device is also the most price-competitive on the market.  We’ve used it for lots of activity monitoring programs at the Center for Connected Health, including our Step it Up program to encourage increased activity in children in Boston Public Schools.  It works particularly well for walking programs and for group competitions because you can set up a few antennae in an environment (such as a school or workplace) and get automatic step counts uploaded.

As good as it is, the Actiped has been criticized for two reasons.  One reason is the need to clip in on your shoe.  This is inconvenient, particularly for women whose shoe styles often do not lend themselves to a clip on pedometer.  The second reason is that it only tracks steps, so you get no credit for cycling, treadmill, elliptical or swimming, all popular work out activities.

I was excited to learn that Fitlinxx recently released an upgraded device, the Pebble.  It has different technology and different firmware allowing it to track all of the activities mentioned above and to be worn on the belt instead of the shoe.  In my opinion, these improvements mark it as the best overall value in activity monitoring.  In fact, I swam laps both Saturday and Sunday and, wearing it on my wrist, saw activity spikes recorded on both days.

One clips the sensor on and as long as you are in 30 feet or so of a USB antenna, your activity is effortlessly uploaded.  As of today, consumers cannot order a Pebble directly from Fitlinxx, as they only distribute through partners. I met with several of their executives the other day and suggested they reconsider as they have a great product.

Activity is the quintessential example of an objective connected health measure.  If you wear a device like the Actiped or the Pebble and periodically check your activity level, inevitably insights occur. For most of us, the insight is, “Gee, I am not that active on a given day.”

Insights are great, but for the vast majority of folks, more is needed to achieve and sustain behavior change.

This is where motivational psychology comes in.

My favorite example of a company that understands how to properly use motivational psychology is Healthrageous.   (For full disclosure: you should know that Healthrageous was spun out of our Center just over two years ago, and that I am a minority share holder and chair of their Scientific Advisory Board).

Many companies favor one motivational technique above all others (social networking, rewards/incentives, games and coaching are the four categories).  These companies all report good success too, with say 30-50% of any population.  But what about the other 50-70%?  Chances are, this segment of the population doesn’t personally respond to that particular flavor of motivational psychology. Healthrageous has a system that offers all of these techniques to best suit the needs and preferences of individuals. Eventually, the company will be able to predict which mix is maximally motivational to each individual and craft customized messaging to achieve the goal of sustained behavior change.  Their data is impressive.

To sum it up then, wear and forget sensors generating automatically uploaded data provide feedback loops and insights whereas customized motivational psychology tools create the environment for sustained behavior change.

 

TAGGED:Connected Healthself-monitoring
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
Global Healthcare Policy & Law
July 17, 2025
paramedics in surgical gloves and masks
How Health Choices and Legal Actions Intersect After an Injury
Health care
July 16, 2025
a woman giving a key
How Probate Planning Shapes the Future of Your Estate and Family Care
Health
July 16, 2025
a woman with kinesio tapes on her back arm
How communities and healthcare providers can address slip and fall injuries with legal awareness
Health care
July 16, 2025

You Might also Like

Health careSpecialtiesWellness

Top Three Essentials for General Health Care during Pregnancy

January 13, 2019
Health carePublic HealthWellness

How Healthcare Professionals Can Educate Patients In Various Specialties

March 4, 2019
Wellness

Alternative Therapies For Opioid Addiction Treatment

October 24, 2018
Health careWellness

5 Important Tips For Eating Healthy At Restaurants

February 5, 2019
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?