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Lifelong wellness technology

How smart employers can use health tech for better business

  • min read
    • The pandemic has changed how we live and work. Public health has dominated national news. Organizations have accelerated their use of digital technologies. As successful vaccination worldwide starts to reduce COVID-19's worst impacts, life slowly returns to normal. Melissa Fogarty, Joint Head of Corporate, London at international law firm Clifford Chance said in 2020, "Resourcefulness, dexterity and tenacity are crucial for those who will come out of the crisis in good shape." We know physical isolation and frequent online meetings can strain employees' long-term physical and mental wellbeing. What can businesses do to ensure staff can do their best and reach their potential? Digital transformation in health and wellbeing tech may have the answer. The consumer wellbeing tech and healthcare divide "The world's largest single source of digital health compliance" ORCHA assesses and accredits the growing number of healthcare mobile apps. Recent consumer wearables like Apple Watch collect clinical-grade data useful for diagnosis and preventative healthcare. But at a recent Nordic Healthcare Conference, ORCHA's Chief Operating Officer, Tim Andrews, said, "Whilst there's been huge interest in digital health, this is often not matched with adoption and usage, particularly in areas that impact healthcare systems. The opportunity perhaps missed most often is the ability for digital health to be embedded into healthcare systems." Andrews seems to be suggesting health devices and mobile apps aren't yet a big part of public health services, but should be. I think there are two main reasons for this. First, data privacy and security: If personal health data gets into the wrong hands, it may lead to misselling of health services and insurer or employer discrimination. Second, possible litigation against developers of health and wellbeing devices and apps, around classification as a medical device and eligibility to be prescribed by medical practitioners. Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly part of public health triage and medical advice, online or over the phone, but wearable devices and mobile apps rarely give medical advice. Telehealth and privacy COVID-19 has changed our perceptions of healthcare data privacy. Before the pandemic, it was inconceivable for democratic nations to use track and trace technologies to monitor citizens. Although still contentious, it's meant acceptance of telehealth as a way of protecting others. Back in 2014 in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, Timothy Hale and Joseph Kvedar, said, "Concerns about the privacy and security of telehealth systems may adversely affect people's trust in telehealth and threaten the ability of these systems to improve the accessibility, quality and effectiveness of healthcare… but many people, especially the chronically ill, believe the benefits of telehealth outweigh the risks." They recognized that it's in the interests of all health stakeholders, from patients to employers, insurers to healthcare professionals, to use and encourage use of healthcare technologies. Wellness tech and preventative medicine Employers want healthy, motivated staff. Employee benefits packages often include private health insurance, which may attract employees, but don't usually include preventative healthcare. Staff ill-health, absences and reduced performance are a massive cost burden. The US National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion estimates 90 percent of the nation's associated 3.8 trillion US dollar costs are from mental and chronic health conditions. Also back in 2014, Sir Simon Stevens, former Head of UK's National Health Service (NHS) called obesity a "slow-motion car crash." He suggested we need new interventions to promote healthy eating and lifestyles to avoid serious health and financial problems in future. We're seeing moves in this direction. Singapore's Health Promotion Board launched its National Steps Challenge, giving away free step-tracking watches. Its Ministry of Health Transformation Office started Mindline, an AI-enabled portal offering tailored support with mental wellbeing. Mindline helps users identify and get help for underlying problems like domestic violence and financial strain, and gives healthy living advice alongside options for medical and talk therapies. Another example of a win-win ecosystem using technology and gamification is insurers like Vitality Life offering an Apple Watch to customers with benefits linked to healthy living data. How to use wellness tech in the workplace I see two main ways businesses can use health tech to give employees lifelong benefits and their business immediate results in reduced absenteeism and greater engagement. Telehealth devices and gamification are a win-win Telehealth devices include wearable tech that tracks health patterns, giving early warning of problems and advice. Rather than tracking employee health directly, HR departments can offer telehealth devices and apps with training as part of the benefits package: A win-win digital ecosystem. By working with health insurers and organizations like ORCHA, they can also help shape the lifestyle behaviors behind obesity and other chronic, avoidable conditions. Using gamification (game-orientated) strategies like those used in mobile apps can encourage employees to set health targets and form teams competing for the best improvements. Here are some good examples of the benefits of wellness gamification strategies. Italian games specialists Imaginary pioneered wellness technology within 'serious games.' Their flagship rehabilitation product Rehability helps people who've had strokes and other debilitating conditions recover at home under a clinician's remote supervision. It reduces the costs of care and, through gamification, encourages patients to comply with the clinician's advice, shortening their recovery times. Solutions like Rehability could be part of corporate health packages, helping staff improve physical and mental health at home or supporting recovery from conditions like Long Covid. Immersed in digital therapeutics Digital therapeutics involves using technology to give therapy for physical and mental health. It helps avoid or reduce the need for medication or surgery, and empowers people to manage their own health. There's growing use of virtual reality (VR) for stress management and treating other mental health problems. Organizations are starting to use VR headsets or other immersive technologies like 360-degree projectors to offer employees chill-out space. Spanish company BroomX pioneered affordable 360-degree projectors that have many uses, including digital therapeutics. Although originally designed for cultural and educational sites like schools and museums, research suggests immersive experiences may benefit mental health. At the 2021 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Broom X and hospital partners discussed how they've used immersive mindfulness therapies in hospitals to treat and prevent staff and patients with mental illness. What corporate leaders should do next Organizations wanting to harness the power of health tech for their employees have many ways to add physical and mental wellbeing technologies and apps to their people management strategy. What's right for each business comes down to their circumstances and what their people want. It's a fast-moving, high-growth area. Leaders must choose the right partners when selecting technologies for employee benefits packages. Big technology players like Apple, Google and Samsung are pitching hard with new devices and applications. The many health and wellbeing mobile apps available can feel like a jungle to navigate. It's worth discussing options with organizations like ORCHA that are there to evaluate independently. Organizations with an ethos of preventative healthcare, using technology and gamification to add value to their employee experience may see benefits in competitive advantage alongside healthier, more productive and motivated staff.
mental health stress tracking

Using tech to track employee stress: Work wellbeing win?

  • min read
    • Chronic worker stress can mean myriad physical and mental health problems. In the US alone, business might lose up to 300 billion dollars from employee stress fallout, whether through absent days, unfinished work or missed meetings. And it's common: A 2020 study of UK workers found 79 percent regularly experience work-related stress. And as COVID-19 has brought health worries and childcare responsibilities for many, it's brought more stress. A survey by mental healthcare provider Ginger found 7 in 10 in the US rate the pandemic as the most stressful time of their professional career. Lack of human contact is part of the problem, with a Kaspersky report finding 34 percent of remote workers miss seeing colleagues face-to-face. Tech that measures stress What can employers do to help their workers with stress? A growing number of tech companies are offering ways businesses can better understand stress among staff, sometimes called 'welltech.' And as varied as potential sources of stress are, tech to evaluate it come in all shapes. Companies like Noldus FaceReader and iMotions use facial recognition to analyze expressions in the workplace or at home, measuring how people feel and detecting stress. Tobii does similar by tracking eye movements to measure attention and productivity. 'Sentiment analysis' is a burgeoning field: Using text or conversation to get an idea of someone's feelings. Jive scans employee communications to find out about morale, emotions and engagement. Devices worn around the chest or wrist use sensors to measure physiological signs of stress from heart rate and skin conductance. Firstbeat is a wearable that tracks an important stress indicator, heart rate variability (HRV.) There are also stress-measuring options that capture employees' self-reported symptoms, like surveys about how they feel that ask them to rate their stress. Unmind and Moodbeam are companies that encourage employees to self-rate their happiness. If any of this sounds a bit Orwellian to you, you're not alone. Some employers have been happy to overreach the usual employment boundaries into employee's private lives, whether overtly and covertly. It makes many understandably wary of developments in the working world like welltech that might seem a little too personal. I asked experts for their views on the right and wrong ways for employers to use technology to measure and respond to employee stress. Decide what you want to track and why Dr. Alexandra D. Crosswell is Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at University of California. She specializes in chronic stress and disease development. She told me, "Which measure to use depends on which type of stress you are trying to capture. As researchers, we rarely, if ever, use the broad term 'stress,' since it can mean so many things." Crosswell gives physiological stress as an example, which could be tracked by increased blood pressure or stress-related biomarkers like cortisol. "Depending on which type of stress you want to capture, there are well-validated tools to capture it." Self-reporting is one of the most popular ways to understand worker stress. Dr. Nick Taylor, CEO and co-founder of Unmind, says, "We provide employees with a self-report assessment that asks questions on seven areas of wellbeing." These include the likes of fulfillment, sleep and connection. "From the answers, the platform sends employees personalized feedback and [reading or video] recommendations to help them," Dr. Taylor explains. "At the same time, managers get anonymous, aggregated data to track progress, spot trends and make informed choices about wellbeing at work." Stress-tracking benefits for employers and employees "Employers should track employee stress, particularly burnout, job strain and general overwhelm," says Dr. Crosswell. Knowing more about workplace stress can benefit a company and its employees in several ways. Offering interventions informed by stress tracking might reduce numbers who take time off for stress and other mental health issues. But there's more at stake. "There are three main reasons workplaces may gain from wellbeing measurement," Dr. Taylor tells me. "First, to improve employee wellbeing by acting on reliable data. Second, to see if strategies to curb stress are working. Finally, to improve the organization's performance, culture and reputation." Challenges with data about feelings There are benefits to tracking employee wellbeing, but also challenges and risks to address from the start. What about privacy? Many companies working in this space use de-identified data. Dr. Crosswell says, "Employee answers are kept anonymous by not asking for their name or other information that could identify them, so they can be honest about how they're feeling without worrying their superior will know their responses. Then the data is grouped (aggregated) to see how employees are doing on mental health measures on average." Using a platform deemed safe doesn't necessarily mean cybercriminals can't access its data. What's more, you must ensure your business or third parties hold data securely and in ways that comply with data privacy laws. "Mental health is a personal topic that faces stigma in and out of the workplace," says Dr. Taylor. "For any employee wellbeing tracking initiative to work, employees must trust the platform and know their data will be kept anonymous and confidential." Self-reporting might seem like one of the best options, but research shows it could have an adverse effect if employees can't see benefits in sharing. In one study, participants who self-reported how they were feeling using a scale said the act itself negatively affected their emotions. Researchers think this could be because they find it a nuisance or didn't like reflecting on their emotions. Finally, there can be problems getting buy-in at all levels. "Robust measurement costs money," says Dr. Nerina Ramlakhan, a neurophysiologist specializing in sleep and energy. "Without enlightened leadership, this might seem low priority or unimportant." Put people front and center Dr. Ramlakhan says employers should also look beyond tracking and ask what comes next. "Measurement and risk assessment aren't enough. It's important to target the right interventions to address problems." Whether carried out with a heart rate monitor or a happiness scale, tracking should include metrics not easily collected with tech. "Employers should also track things like feelings of meaning and purpose, connectedness with colleagues and whether employees feel they have what they need to do their job well," Dr. Crosswell says. Understanding the needs and goals of employees often depends on person-to-person interaction, care and consideration. Workplaces must commit to these kinds of goals alongside any shiny new wellbeing platform. Dr. Crosswell goes on to say, "Quantitative data is helpful, but it's more important leaders check in one-on-one with employees to see how they're doing, asking them how overwhelmed they feel and what else they need to produce their best work." With growing options to track employee wellbeing with tech, businesses must think about why they're doing it and how they'll secure employee data and trust. Tracking employee wellbeing is most useful when combined with empathetic insights and lasting, real-world interventions that put people first.
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