Study on tapping tech and health coaches to change lifestyle habits

A team from Alexandra Hospital (AH) is testing if using wearable fitness devices alone can change lifestyle habits, or if there is a need for a human health coach to nudge people regularly.

- Judith Tan

The pilot programme, named Activation, is a randomised controlled trial of both a wearable technology-based intervention and the presence of a digital health coach for increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour.

Gastroenterologist Alexander Yip, who is leading this research initiative, said its focus is on preventive health, or "slowing down the progression of chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and reducing healthcare expenditure".

Activation, started in August, aims to recruit 1,700 participants aged between 21 and 75 who are at risk of developing hypertension, diabetes, obesity and hyperlipidaemia, or high cholesterol.

They will be randomly assigned to three groups - 700 participants will get only a smartwatch each, 500 will get a smartwatch and a dashboard with a nudging system downloaded onto their smartphones, and the remaining 500 will get a smartwatch and a health coach who assists them digitally via the dashboard and WhatsApp.

The ConnectedLife dashboard is designed by a Singapore-based health tech company of the same name. It partners Google's Fitbit to create wearable-based solutions for wellness, condition management and other health-focused applications.

"Healthcare redesign is a fundamental part of the hospital's redevelopment, and we look at how we can use technology to enable new kinds of care transformations and workflows or job redesign," said Dr Yip, who heads the healthcare redesign department at AH.