© Provided by New Straits Times
APPLE has released a report that outlines its strategy in empowering people to be at the centre of their health with the usage of the Apple Watch and iPhone.
The Cupertino-based company said since the release of the Health app in 2014 and subsequently Apple Watch in 2015, it has introduced a wide array of innovative health and fitness features to help users take care of their health every day.
Today, users can now store over 150 different types of health data from Apple Watch, iPhone, and connected third-party apps and devices in one central view in the Health app, in addition to available health records data from connected institutions in the US, UK, and Canada.
Besides that, there are now tens of thousands of apps on the App Store that use the HealthKit API, which allows developers to incorporate data users choose to share from the Health app to offer innovative health and fitness experiences, with rigorous privacy and data security protocols.
The report also spotlights examples of popular HealthKit-enabled apps like Nike Run Club, Calm, and WeightWatchers, plus an increasing number of HealthKit-enabled apps- including Qardio heart health and Withings Health Mate – that use connected accessories to allow users to track and monitor even more aspects of their health.
“We believe passionately that technology can play a role in improving health outcomes and encouraging people to live a healthier day, and we are excited about the many ways users are benefiting from our health and fitness features, and by the ways third-party developers, institutions, and organisations are using Apple technology to advance health and science,” said Apple’s chief operating officer, Jeff Williams.
“Our vision for the future is to continue to create science-based technology that equips people with even more information and acts as an intelligent guardian for their health, so they’re no longer passengers on their own health journey. Instead, we want people to be firmly in the driver’s seat with meaningful, actionable insights,” he said.
With the release of iOS 16 and watchOS 9 this fall, Apple said the Apple Watch and iPhone will offer features that focus on 17 areas of health and fitness, from heart health and sleep to mobility and women’s health, and more.
The company also cited how over the years, users have shared how these health and fitness features have, in their own words, changed their lives, including those who have discovered serious heart conditions, received emergency assistance after a fall, or dramatically improved their health through daily activity.
Collaboration with medical community
One of the strategies Apple is taking in building stronger health innovations is through direct collaboration with the medical community, and the report describes four categories of this collaboration, which include building tools to enable researchers to make new scientific discoveries; helping strengthen the physician-patient relationship with meaningful data; collaborating with health organisations to promote healthy lifestyles at large scale; and supporting public health and government initiatives.
Apple said its ResearchKit framework gives researchers the opportunity to recruit study participants from a large user base of iPhone and Apple Watch users, and for participants to choose to share health data to help advance science.
Through the Research app, Apple has collaborated with health institutions such as, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the American Heart Association, and the University of Michigan and World Health Organization to offer users across the US the opportunity to participate in three first-of-their-kind research studies: the Apple Women’s Health Study, the Apple Heart and Movement Study, and the Apple Hearing Study.
The company also said Health Records on iPhone in the Health app, along with apps and devices developed by third parties using Apple developer tools, have helped strengthen physician-patient relationships with meaningful data. Health Records is now available to patients at over 800 institutions across over 12,000 locations.
Health organisations and companies around the world — including Paceline in the US; Vitality Active Rewards in the US, the UK, South Africa, and Australia; and LumiHealth in Singapore — have collaborated with Apple to integrate Apple Watch into their wellness programs. There are currently 55 programs running in 17 countries with over a million users taking part in an incentive program leveraging Apple Watch. These programs have been successful in increasing participants’ physical activity levels and uptake of health behaviors, such as aiming for more regular sleep patterns, focusing on mindfulness, and swapping in healthier food options.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
