Computer Weekly: Europe Head of Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work Says the Human Element is Important in Wearable Tech-Based Wellbeing Programs

“To make wearable tech-based employee health and wellbeing programs sustainable, it is not enough merely to give people access to fitness data,” writes ComputerWeekly, citing the key findings of a pilot program called iCommit2Fit undertaken by Cognizant between January and July 2014. “To really get results, the human touch needs to be offered in the shape of weekly coaching meetings with healthcare professionals, which include assigning individuals specific goals.”

Euan Davis says: “You have to be careful how people react to the information they receive and make sure they don’t start drawing conclusions as it can cause a lot of anxiety. So the human element is very important to ground everything and ensure it works. The key is having regular touchpoints to help staff keep to their targets.”

ComputerWeekly notes that the pilot involved 127 staff members using FitBit activity trackers to capture the number of steps they walked each day. “They were also asked to log their daily food intake in a digital diary, to upload all that data each week to a HealthActivate portal and to take part in weekly phone-based coaching sessions that used the information recorded,” it adds. “In addition, participants received personalized emails with observations and advice from coaches. For example, if they were meeting their step goals but not losing the desired amount of weight, the coach might examine their food log and suggest an alternative diet.”

Personalized coaching made a marked difference to performance, ComputerWeekly points out. “The 15% of participants who did not miss a single coaching session took 54% more steps and lost twice as much weight as those who kept only 95% of their coaching appointments. Yet they, in turn, took 70% more steps and lost three times as much weight as the 15% at the other end of the scale who missed three or more coaching meetings,” it writes.

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