15th December 2016
The world is facing a number of significant health problems. Two out of every five Americans is expected to get diabetes during their lifetime. Worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980.
So what can we do about it?
We think that digital health can help solve many of these problems. We understand digital health to mean using intelligent data analysis and technology to make a positive difference to people’s lives in an accessible and individually empowering way.
At Cloudtag we have identified three key aspects of digital health and how these will affect an increasing number of people in the future.
Individuals take control of their health data
In the next few years, the way that health data is collected and owned is likely to change significantly. At the moment, patients’ medical records (notes of consultations, diagnoses and treatments etc.) sit with their healthcare practitioners, who control them. But in future this data could sit alongside patient data that is generated using wearable digital technology.
Onitor is passionate about this democratization of medicine. We want to help people to take control of their own medical data. And the products and services we’re creating offer a more holistic, more personally empowering approach to health and wellbeing.
Digital health empowers individuals to take positive actions
Up to half of patients with chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes fail to follow the treatments they’re given. And when a patient doesn’t comply with treatment, the health system loses its power to heal.
Onitor is all about interpreting people’s individual data and behaviors using personalized algorithms. The results help individuals to understand what action they can take to reduce their own level of risk. We believe we can empower people to tackle their health needs early and to make small but significant changes to habits and choices to live a healthier life.
Digital health puts prevention first
Society today is less active than ever before. Living and working environments have been stripped of movement and people struggle to maintain a healthy weight. The consequences are significant. Sedentary lifestyles significantly increase the risk of up to 20 conditions including heart disease, Type-2 diabetes, cancers and mental health problems.
We need to act. Turning the tide on the inactivity epidemic requires a range of innovative solutions and collaborative efforts that target the causes of these problems rather than trying to cure an ever-growing number of people with similar problems.
Wearables can help by providing insight, but on their own they’re not the complete answer. At Onitor, we know that for wearables to reach their potential, they must provide data in a smart, engaging way.
That’s why we’re using smart design and a dynamic digital health platform – that learns from the data that it processes – to help people take the bold and radical decisions to integrate physical activity into their daily lives.