The Heart and Stroke Foundation is looking for a little <3 from Canada’s mobile community (that symbol is a heart, for those not fluent in phone-text-speak).
In partnership with Desjardins Financial Security, the organization has introduced a free iOS-exclusive app called <30 Days intended to help Canadians manage their heart health.
According to Heart and Stroke Foundation statistics, nine out of 10 adult Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart disease and stroke, while 40% have three or more.
Ahmad Zbib, who oversaw the <30 Days project in his role as manager of consumer eHealth for the foundation’s Ontario chapter, said that health-focused apps are becoming more and more prevalent.
According to a July report by MobiHealthNews.com, there were more than 13,000 relevant consumer health apps available in April of this year – a sizable figure that still fails to include what it called “miscategorized” and foreign language apps found in the App Store’s Health & Fitness and Medical categories.
“People are primed for digital technology, so we saw that as a new distribution channel for our messages to help Canadians gain control of their health,” said Zbib.
He described the app as a “hypothesis” for proving that this type of technology can be used to change consumer behaviour and attitudes. The app’s so-called “engagement model,” which rewards users who complete daily challenges with “digital tokens” that can be shared via their social networks, is expected to play a key role in its adoption and use, said Zbib.
Developed by Nascent Digital, the <30 Days app is the fourth released by the Heart and Stoke Foundation – following a risk assessment tool, a HealthCheck recipe app and a blood pressure action plan. It has been downloaded more than 1,500 times since it debuted last week.
When users first download the app, they are asked to complete what Zbib described as a “mini-assessment” covering both factors people have no control over, such as age, ethnicity, family medical history, followed by lifestyle factors such as alcohol intake and dietary habits.
The app addresses six lifestyle risk factors: nutrition, physical activity, stress, salt intake, alcohol and smoking. Based on the information provided by users, the app presents them with the risk factors and asks them to determine which ones they want to prioritize. Subsequent daily challenges issued by the app will address the factors users have indicated.
“In this day and age, when your phone knows more about you than you do, we’ve got to be smart or we’re not going to be very relevant,” said Zbib.
The app’s launch is being supported by a PR campaign as well as a promotional campaign and both mobile and in-app advertising, which Zbib said represents something of a departure from the organization’s traditional marketing tactics.
