from straitstimes.com:
HPB working with tech, healthcare partners to get Singaporeans active and healthy
Research has shown that people make incremental adjustments to their lifestyle choices if they get real-time feedback. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
Judith Tan
Correspondent
UPDATED
NOV 18, 2024, 03:15 PM
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SINGAPORE – Two pilot programmes will soon kick off to see if wearable trackers and other technology can give individuals real-time feedback they can use to improve their health.
The Health Promotion Board (HPB), which is working with technology and healthcare companies on the projects, said they could translate into real-world interventions to help at-risk individuals and those with chronic conditions delay the onset of diseases and better manage their health.
In the first programme called DigiCoach, up to 2,500 participants will wear a device that monitors their glucose levels continuously, giving them real-time information of how those change throughout the day with diet and physical activity.
DigiCoach will be conducted in partnership with American multinational medical devices and healthcare company Abbott, which manufactures the continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device, and Health2Sync, a company that builds healthcare solutions to support those with pre-diabetes and high body mass index (BMI).
In the second programme, HPB will work with Google, Singapore-based health tech company ConnectedLife and Fullerton Health to manage high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.
The HealthTrack SG project will pull together data of each of the 3,500 participants from various tracking apps into a single platform that health coaches at Fullerton Health can use for health counselling.
Research has shown that people will make incremental adjustments to their lifestyle choices if they get real-time feedback on how diet and physical activity affect their bodies.
HPB chief executive Tay Choon Hong said the board constantly pursues innovations that enable Singaporeans to better manage their own health.
“Our latest collaborations... will allow us to trial new solutions that deliver more timely and actionable recommendations to Singaporeans to prevent or manage chronic conditions. These solutions can be potentially scaled up in future to help more Singaporeans,” he said.
With these programmes in place, HPB will gain valuable insights on what works in encouraging Singaporeans to engage in healthy behaviour.
Governments and health authorities are turning to wearable technology coupled with artificial intelligence to see if this can improve preventive care for their populations.
A team from Alexandra Hospital is also carrying out a randomised controlled trial on whether using wearable fitness devices alone can change lifestyle habits, or if there is a need for a human health coach to offer the occasional nudge.
Called Activation, the pilot project looks at both wearable technology-based intervention and a health coach to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour among Singaporeans.
These trials come as the findings of the 2023
National Population Health Survey, announced in August, showed that more Singaporeans were getting active and adopting healthy lifestyle habits.
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In addition, the national preventive care programme, Healthier SG, seeks to make people more conscious of their own health and the agency they have to improve it.
At the 20th anniversary of the Singapore Population Health Studies on Nov 9, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said wearables and health applications have changed the way individuals monitor and shape their lifestyles.
He said that the Health Plan, which each individual has under Healthier SG, will be enhanced to become more personalised from the end of November.
“When you go to your HealthHub app, you are able to see your Health Plan if you have joined Healthier SG. These Health Plans will now become more personalised. For those enrolled in Healthier SG, your family doctor can provide more specific and practical diet and exercise recommendations during the consultation,” Mr Ong added.
Up to 6,000 Singaporeans will be enrolled in HPB’s pilot programmes. Recruitment for the DigiCoach programme started in July and the pilot will run for 10 months until April 2025.
Fullerton Health will start recruiting for the HealthTrack SG programme in the first half of 2025 and follow up with eligible patients for a year to monitor their lifestyle habits.
A participant of DigiCoach, Mr Victor Tan, 46, said the programme is like a friend, helping him form better habits.
Mr Victor Tan, whose mother has diabetes, enrolled in the Digicoach programme to control his own glucose intake. PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
The assistant vice-president in leadership and culture development with a security company believed he might be at risk of diabetes as his mother suffers from the condition, and he had tried different ways to keep his glucose level under control.
“I have greatly benefited from the real-time feedback as I could see (within minutes) how my blood sugar levels react to the food I have taken. From there, I can already make tweaks to my diet or increase my amount of exercise,” he said.
Through the pilots, HPB will study the effectiveness and feasibility of scaling up the innovations and programmes to benefit a wider population.
