Game on: Technology the new frontier in healthier living

Could gamification be the next big thing to encourage people to live healthier lifestyles?

It seems like health apps are taking over. From Apple watches and Fitbits to the Peloton Fitness App, they are helping more folks stay in shape.

Gamification is an online marketing technique that uses elements of game playing to encourage engagement with a product or service. For example, point scoring, competition, earning badges, and staying on the leadership boards.

With health technology evolving, it is helping consumers to set and meet their fitness goals.

“Some people may not want to jump straight into a gym and have someone see their numbers on the scale or something like that,” said Garrison Cherry, a physical therapist at Atrium Health. “But they can actually just tap into the apps or whatever device that they're using, and they can just have that security while still encouraging them to live a healthy lifestyle.”

One way to get people to achieve overall health and wellness is turning it into a game where they can earn points —- or better yet reward them for their hard work. Folks like free stuff.

For instance, gift cards to a coffee shop or grocery store, or waived gym membership fees.

Gamification can have a potentially huge ripple effect in the Black community by reducing obesity and other chronic illnesses.

With African Americans most likely to develop diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease in the United States, health-related incentives can help change outcomes.
“Sitting is the new smoking,” said Cherry. “If we can get people to move, especially when we know we're going to be driven by technology, I think that's going to be a big key to getting people to reach their weight loss goals are just in general, lowering low high blood pressure or cholesterol levels. I think that’s going to be and has been a big benefit of this surge in technology in the fitness space.”

If health insurance companies began offering healthy incentives, it could motivate people to think differently about their health.

“The best incentive, certainly for most Americans in their income range would be the waiver of [health insurance] premiums for accomplishing certain goals,” said healthcare IT innovator Jeff Margolis, “meaning the individual portion or family portion that gets paid by a person for their health insurance can be credited or modulated downward or perhaps copayments for prescription drugs, and so forth can be waived.”

The downside to gamification is data sharing and tracking over the internet. But that’s a general risk any consumer will run into when using technology.

“I am squarely in the camp of get over it,” said Margolis, who is the author of “Not Just In Sickness But Also In Health: Moving Beyond Sickcare To Health Optimization For All.” “Most of the information about us that we need to go about improving our lives comes from daily living data, not from medical data.  I just think consumers should always have a choice to opt out, but the default should be you’re opted in so that the things that are known of you can be applied to your health benefit.”

Comments are closed.