Examining health mobile apps and wearables use through the lenses of communication equality

Funding Agency: Ministry of Education (MOE) Tier 1

Funding Quantum: SGD $50, 000

Duration of Award: March 2021 to February 2024

Role: Principal Investigator

What the project is about:

The proliferation of health apps and wearables have the potential to address some of the most pressing health challenges by empowering individuals to take ownership of their health through active health monitoring. However, scholars have highlighted that health apps and wearables may inadvertently widen health disparities as only the financially well-off are able to take advantage of these technologies for health. This study aims to examine factors and barriers associated with health apps and wearables use through the lenses of communication equality, with the aim of building a health app prototype that is usable and accessible to all Singaporeans.

These aims are achieved through four work packages (WPs) that integrates multi-methods, triangulating both quantitative and qualitative data. WP1 aims to review the general attitude toward health apps and wearables in (a) scholarly databases, (b) social media, and (c) traditional media (e.g., newspapers). WP2 examines the motivations and barriers, and the extent of health apps /wearables use in Singapore when compared to countries at the forefront of digital health revolution—namely the U.S. and China. WP3 will draw qualitative insights on best practices for equitable health apps/wearables design and implementation using in-depth interviews and focus groups with low-income groups, technology developers, and for-profit and non-profit organizations. Finally, WP4 would integrate all findings from WP1-3 to build a user-centered health app prototype for Singaporeans.

The findings from this study would create vital knowledge in key areas, such as benchmarking Singapore’s health apps/wearables use with U.S. and China and identifying motivations and barriers to health apps use. The success of this project would further catalyze research in equitable health apps/wearables in Singapore with the development of a health app prototype which is built with input of policy makers, developers, and users from the get-go.