A good pedometer promotes physical activity, but it's not suitable for everyone

eHealth can improve our lifestyle without the intervention of a healthcare provider. Talia Cohen-Rodriguez investigated the possibilities for people with cardiovascular disease. She is scheduled to defend her doctoral thesis on March 14th.

“You're 1,563 steps away from your step goal for today. Would you like to take a walk?” When a sports watch provides that kind of feedback, you're much more likely to take more steps than a pedometer that doesn't.

It's also helpful if the app tells you something about your health, such as, “Drinking unsweetened cola is very good. It doesn't have sugar, but it does contain caffeine, which can raise your blood pressure.” Additionally, efficiency increases if the app is interactive, meaning you can choose a step goal and set it when you receive feedback.

Get better results with cycling tests

Social psychologist and communication scientist Talia Cohen Rodriguez wanted to know how successful eHealth can be without additional guidance from health care providers. For this, she analyzed the results of her 104 previous studies on the effectiveness of eHealth. She found that automatically generated feedback can be just as successful as feedback from health care providers.

“A good eHealth application that requires no human intervention can help improve someone's diet, exercise behavior, or even health outcomes such as cardiac cycling test or exercise behavior results.” Such Applications Examples include Headspace for stress relief and Albert Heijn's My Lifestyle Coach. “Health insurance companies such as Zilveren Kruis and ASR also offer apps with automated support.”

High risk group of resistant older men

Cohen-Rodriguez interviewed 16 medical professionals and surveyed more than 650 patients with cardiovascular disease about their opinions and expectations about lifestyle interventions and eHealth.

“It was striking that healthcare providers thought older patients would prefer to see a medical professional because they may be less tech-savvy.Patients think differently. , often prefer to take matters into their own hands. Without eHealth, healthcare professionals; healthcare institutions.”

However, this does not apply to everyone. “Women and younger patients want guidance from apps and coaches to improve their lifestyles. Older men, the most important risk group for cardiovascular disease, think they can cope on their own. ” Experience teaches us that is wrong.

Cohen-Rodriguez believes there is a need to offer patients an alternative. “Current rehabilitation programs after cardiac events are fairly uniform. People often receive group sessions and fixed content. The app allows you to create a bespoke program and help patients improve their lifestyle. It gives you an opportunity for autonomy.”

Moving eHealth forward literally and figuratively without human intervention sounds very appealing. Especially in an era when medical costs are soaring. Could such eHealth be the solution to rising obesity and other lifestyle problems?Coen-Rodriguez is concerned for two reasons.

“It makes no sense for supermarkets to continue to offer cheap colas even if we drink tea instead of cola thanks to an app.'' Secondly, “eHealth will make more people aware of their behavior, “It can help change that behavior. But there are vulnerable populations, such as those of lower socio-economic status, who need to be careful with such solutions.”

These very people live 5 years less and 14 years less in good health than other people, with significant socio-economic health disparities. “People of lower socio-economic status are the ones who need to improve their lifestyles the most,” says Cohen-Rodriguez. Illiteracy or low digital skills reduce the effectiveness of eHealth. Additionally, there is another reason why behavior change is particularly difficult for these people.

“For example, concerns about not having money often prevent these people from having the mental capacity to take care of their health.” That's something we need to work on as a society, the doctoral candidate believes. . “Otherwise, the success of eHealth will only exacerbate health disparities.”