I spend a lot of time testing, tracking, and analyzing data. I’m not talking about the work I do here at Ogilvy–I’m talking about all of the daily efforts I undertake to manage my Type 1 diabetes. My life is full of numbers and tech gadgets, from a meter to test my blood glucose to mobile apps like dLife (for recording insulin doses) and Low Carb Diet Assistant (for counting everything from carbs to glasses of water consumed). Being somewhat of a geek, I’m always looking for the next best tool to help me track—and, even better, to help me analyze and interpret—data about my own health behaviors.
And so it was within this context that my ears perked up during last week’s DHCX conference, as Ernesto Ramirez of the Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems shared his thoughts on the role of self-tracking as an effective tool for health behavior change.
In his work, Ernesto focuses on how to apply emerging technologies (e.g., sensors, mobile, social networking) to better the health of individuals and populations through measurement and analysis of behavioral patterns. Think Fitbit for counting steps or Zeo for measuring sleep—or even Hugo Campos’ project to photograph every meal he eats and post to Flickr.
I sat down with Ernesto for a Q&A on the “quantified self” movement and how it might be applied to public health in the near future.
Q: What does “quantified self” mean?
Q: How does the quantified self lead to behavior change?
Q: How do we motivate people to use self-data collection tools?
Q: How might we collect this kind of data on a population level?
Q: Would you say quantified self falls under prevention or treatment?
Q: What will need to happen to take the quantified self movement to the next level?
For more on the topic of quantified self, see:
- Ernesto’s DHCX presentation slides
- “The Patient of the Future,” Technology Review
- “Your Body is an API,” Wired
- “Quantified Self + Motivational Hacks = The Programmable Self,” Forbes
- “Monitoring Your Health With Mobile Devices,” The New York Times
This post was originally published on the Social Marketing exCHANGE blog.
