Fitbit Supports mHealth Programs Addressing Social Determinants of Health

Fitbit is awarding mHealth wearables and services to six research projects that aim to address the social determinants of health.

The company, one of the largest in the direct-to-consumer space, has long been involved in mHealth and telehealth programs launched by healthcare organizations aiming to collect biometric data outside the hospital, office or clinic. This latest project ties into a nationwide effort to identify barriers to health access and equity – many of them non-clinical - that affect underserved communities.

The programs being supported through the Fitbit Health Equity Research Initiative are as follows:

• At the Georgia Institute of Technology, Sherilyn Francis, a PhD student in the Human-Centered Computing program, will be equipping rural Black mothers with smartwatches and wireless scales to measure activity, sleep, heart rate, weight and nutritional data with health outcomes in an effort to reduce the risk of severe maternal morbidity.
• At Oregon State University, Jessee Dietch, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology, will be using mHealth devices to analyze sleep patterns among transgender youth (ages 14-19) undergoing medical transition and the use of gender-affirming hormone therapy to identify potential point for sleep health intervention to improve physical and mental health outcomes.
• At the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute in Santa Barbara, CA, Rony Santiago, MA, an early career researcher and manager of type 2 diabetes programs, will use mHealth devices and a continuous glucose monitor in a collaboration with Texas A&M University to analyze physical activity, nutrition tracking and sleep patterns in the Latino population at risk of developing T2D.
• At Scripps Research, Toluwalase Ajayi, MD, a pediatrician, palliative care physician and clinical researcher at the San Diego institution, will use mHealth wearables and a wireless scale in her PowerMom FIRST study, which aims to address how systemic racism and discrimination may have a negative impact on maternal and fetal health in Black and Hispanic populations.
• At SKY Schools, a national project of the International Association of Human Values, Susan Ramsundarsingh, PhD, the organization’s national director of research, will be using mHealth devices to measure the impact on heart rate, sleep and physical activities on some 600 students being taught social-emotional skills and resilience to improve health and well-being.
• At the University of Colorado Health System, Victoria Bandera, MS, an exercise physiologist and early career researcher for UCHealth Heavenly Hearts, will use mHealth devices in the six-month Healthy Hearts Family Program to encourage participants to monitor and modify their health behaviors, such as eating habits and physical activity.

Fitbit is awarding $300,000 in products and services to these programs, including the services of a telehealth platform developed by long-time partner Fitabase.