2. Health Promotion
Health promotion is the process of enabling people to
increase control over, and to improve, their health.
It moves beyond a focus on individual behaviour
towards a wide range of social and environmental
interventions
4. Quantified Self for Health
Promotion
Developing Personal Skills
Self-awareness & self-optimisation
understanding data
Strengthening Community Action
Asthmapolis
Google flu trends
Building Healthy Public Policies
Big data to guide policy makers
Creating Supportive Environments
Providing resources for tracking
Re-orientating Healthcare Services
Prevention practises over curative measures
Promotion of QS by Health care professionals
5. Research Aim
To explore the experiences and impact self-monitoring
and data collection has had on the lives of self-
trackers, and the potential for their data to be used to
better understand behaviour change mechanisms for
human health and wellbeing.
6. Objectives
Explore the driving factors and reasons behind individuals’
self-tracking and self-monitoring habits.
Gain insight into what participants have discovered
through their self-tracking and self-monitoring habits.
Discover the perceived benefits and barriers to self-
tracking.
Gain insight into the experiences self-trackers have had
with their chosen habit.
Explore participants’ views on the potential for integration
of self-tracking and self-monitoring behaviour into
mainstream daily life
15. 0% 50% 100%
Yes
No
Confidentiality Concerns
0% 20% 40% 60%
Yes
No
Familiarity with privacy Terms
and Conditions of Devices
0% 20% 40% 60%
Yes
No
I don't know
Devices used Sharing with a
Third Party
0% 50% 100%
Yes
No
Willing to Share Data
Anonymously
16. Overall positive experience of self tracking
Satisfied with the available tools, process and usability
of the devices
Self-awareness and self-knowledge to optimise health
Desire to anonymously share data
17. Interview Results
Demographics
11 Interviews, 8 males, 3 females
Experience 6 months- 40 years
High Socio-economic Status
22 variables of tracking
20 tools mentioned
Time-costs:2.5mins-1hours
18. Motivations & data Usage
Motivations
Cue to action
Curiosity
Sports
school or work requirements
Usage
surgery, treatment and illness management
self-diagnosis
Accountability
self-knowledge
objective decision making
prevention
19. Process & Impact
Process
quick and easy
Consistency
Cheating
passive tracking
Stressful
obsessive
Impact
rational decision making
Confidence
Support
self-efficacy
20. Benefits and Barriers
Barriers
Inter-operability
Correlations
passive tracking
interpretation of data & context
self-doubt
Benefits
Motivating
objective viewpoint
improve performance
Lifestyle
overall health
21. London Survey Comparisons
Respondents:
London: 105
Dublin: 25
Measuring weight:
London: 47%
Dublin: 70%
Pen and paper still being used to track
London: 28%
Dublin: 32%
Willingness to share data
London:84%
Dublin: 90%
22. Summary of Results
Motivations
Self-knowledge
self-optimization
curiosity
Engagement
Fitness
Weight
Nutrition
sleep
Perception of time
consumption
Data Usage
informed choices
Motivate
Empowerment
self-awareness
self-efficacy
Barriers
interpretation of data
Correlations & Context
Consistency
psychological stresses
23. Self-awareness
“It is like when you are driving a car and you see the
fuel gauge. If you couldn’t see the fuel gauge you would
just drive on but because you see it, you say ‘oh I am
running low on fuel’ so I suppose if you see your weight
going up or down, you can take action”
24. Psychological Stress
“I staggered home with my flashlight knowing that I’d
advance to sixty-five thousand, and that there will be
no end to it until my feet snap off at the ankles. Then
it’ll just be my jagged bones stabbing into the soft
ground. Why is it some people can manage a thing like
a Fitbit, while others go off the rails and allow it to rule,
and perhaps even ruin, their lives?” (Sedaris, 2014)
25. Future Integration in Ireland
Reputation: “nerdy”, time consuming
Early adopters & innovators
Role of Health Care Professionals
Adaption of devices to better suit the needs of
individuals
26. Recommendations for Technology
Securing continued engagement from its users
Avoiding early drop-offs in usage
Increasing devices passive tracking abilities
Providing more cross-connection and correlations of
variables between devices
Must convey the meaning behind the data
Make more suggestions to the user as to how to
improve their results
27. Recommendations for Research
Study the defining characteristics of self-trackers, for example,
personality types and traits
Study the current and potential uses of self-tracking within alternative
social classes, for which the experiences, perceived benefits and
barriers may vary widely
Research on the actual impact self-tracking has on its users published
work focused on initial integration and adoption, neglected to look at
the effects of long term adoption and sustainable behaviour change
Evidence base required to promote more active integration of self-
monitoring in to health promotion and primary care practices
Editor's Notes
Prevention practises not possible without universal healthcare
Exercise & Weight most popular variables
Blood glucose levels & alcohol consumption least popular