HOLISTIC HEALTH: THE USE OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS

©Fitbit

Connecting devices are the next innovation in the ongoing movement towards a holistic and digitised health system. They are meant to integrate seamlessly with the users’ daily life and making data collection convenient, automatic and seamless. The Internet of Things has shifted the concept of self-measurement to that of self-monitoring and, to that of self-management, writes the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. The Quantified Self, also known as lifelogging, which means incorporating technology into the data acquisition around a person's daily life, such as tracking food consumption, mental states and performance, attracts more and more people. In Adidas Digital Sports' Future/Fit Forecast, they company says that “tracking and data is one thing, insight and outcome is another. As technology and sciences advance, we will be able to put value on the collective benefits of movement, nutrition, rest and mindfulness“. In short, “QS leads to building a data collection of self-knowledge through self-tracking, self-monitoring and self-sensing with IoT devices”.

According to the International Data Corporation an expanding launch of wearables combined with fast-growing consumer awareness and demand will generate double-digit growth over the next years and lead to a total of 237.1 million wearable devices in 2020. IoT has the potential to help people with long-term health conditions to manage such, but more so, a holistic customer experience shall prevent people from getting these conditions in the first place. As a matter of fact, 88 per cent of physicians would prefer, if patients were to monitor their health parameters at home. The idea is that by encouraging patients to be involved in their care, through continuing health monitoring, it is possible to intervene before an issue becomes acute. “Consumers in all other industries are taking more and more control of their lives, of their activities, of their devices, and there are more consumers than ever before who are using smartphones,” says Liat Ben-Zur, senior vice-president and head of connected digital propositions and platforms at Philips.