Mobile, Modal, and Ambient Health - Part Four

In our last entry, we explored how ambient devices dedicated to health and wellness can make a significant contribution “in the moment” – that is, when and where it is most effective. For this last blog in our series on ambient health communications, we look at critical care situations where patients are wired up so that health care professionals can track important metrics and take prompt action if anything goes wrong.  With ambient health communication, there’s potential for individuals themselves to track important metrics in their everyday life, thereby maintaining their own health and avoiding such critical events. 

Revealing new types of health information

Ambient display technologies in healthcare are being developed at a time when people can see information about their bodies and health that was previously inaccessible and outside their awareness.  They can bring together five categories of information in various combinations to create feeds that are highly specific and, hence, highly relevant to each individual:

1) Standard remotely-sourced data, such as pollen counts and pollution levels, which are already available through the web and can be pulled in through RSS feeds and apps;

2) User-created social media interactions, which are also already available through the web and can be pulled in through RSS feeds and apps;

3) Simple individual-originated health metrics that may be uploaded automatically (e.g. from the individual’s wireless-enabled weighing scales, blood pressure meters and pedometers) or may be input manually by the individual;

4) More complex biosensor data that is automatically uploaded from individual’s testing apparatus (e.g. blood sugar levels) as part of a monitoring regime;

5) Individual-specific recommendations and instructions triggered by changing data, such as high pollution counts (“Remember your asthma medication”), high blood pressure (“Go easy on the salt!”) or blood monitoring (“Anemia alert – make an appointment with your physician”).

Until very recently, simple metrics such as blood pressure and biosensor data such as blood counts could only be obtained from a visit to a health professional.  Now, automated home testing equipment makes it possible for individuals to keep track of such health information and feed it into ambient devices.

Over in Europe, a project called SmartHEALTH[1] has been focusing on monitoring at-risk cancer patients via a wireless-enabled home testing station – combining biosensor technology with information technology, wireless communication and biostatistics. SmartHEALTH’s broader objectives include showing ways in which Ambient Intelligent (AmI) medical devices and online services can contribute to pervasive healthcare provision.[2]

More mindfulness in health and fitness

Fitness and health care inevitably become subjects of increasing interest for most people as they get past the Big Three-O and notice the growing signs of aging.  However, it’s not just the over-30s who are interested in their health; weight, allergies and conditions such as asthma are issues of daily interest for many younger people too. 

One way or another, most adults have an ongoing interest in caring for their body, and ambient health information has the potential to make a significant contribution to most needs at every life stage. Various combinations of the five categories of information listed above can create mixes of ambient healthcare information that are tailored to the requirements of individuals and their health care providers. 

For health care professionals, ambient health communication offers the prospect of new methods of achieving more effective patient care, potentially at lower long-term cost.  For consumers and patients, it offers incentives to set goals (e.g. lose 10 pounds, take medication on time every time) and in-the-moment “nudges” to keep them on track.  By gently making them aware of information that’s relevant to their health and wellness needs, ambient information can help them be better informed and more considerate in their actions.  This is very much in line with Euro RSCG’s thinking about the emergence of mindful consumption.

For marketing and advertising professionals in the health care space, ambient information constitutes a threat, a challenge and an opportunity. The threat is that the more consumers tune in to ambient health information that is relevant and useful to them, the more they will screen out unwanted and intrusive communication. The challenge is to avoid the temptation to push into the ambient space with hard-sell initiatives that will end up spoiling the space and turning consumers off.  The opportunity is to help clients create communication that satisfies their business needs and benefits the health needs of consumers.
 

[1]See movie at http://www.smarthealthip.com/

[2]http://www.smarthealthip.com/presentations.aspx