Health at home: 4 ways to know and improve your health with tech

ARTICLE

1 August 2024

5 min read

From wearable biometric monitors to smart lights programmed to your circadian rhythm, here are four ways to bring the data-led future of health and wellbeing into your home.

While wearable devices have helped us track personal health metrics for a while, the Covid-19 pandemic made other at-home health testing, like diagnostic kits and air purifiers, the norm.

The latest tech has only made home health tracking smarter and more convenient: now, wearables can monitor glucose levels, apps help us track energy and nutrition, and smart lighting automatically dims the light in a room when it’s time for sleep.

With all these new ways to analyse your health data in the comfort of your own home, it’s no surprise that more than 82% of US consumers in a recent survey considered wellness a top priority in their everyday lives¹.

As people take greater control over their wellbeing and incorporate daily health moments, we look at four trackable ways you can know and improve your health at home.

Track fitness with wearables

Exercise is vital for physical and mental wellbeing – and research shows that wearable devices and fitness trackers are making moving your body more accessible², and more fun.

Wearable devices are no longer on the wrist to simply count steps on your walk around the block. They’ve become a crucial personalised tool in meeting fitness goals, staying motivated, and understanding real-time results and trends from wake to sleep. The Garmin vívoactive 5 monitors what drains and charges your energy levels, tracks pushes for wheelchair users, and coaches you to better sleep. Some wearables are even using the latest generative AI to personalise workout plans based on a user’s tracked fitness data³.

Ready to track how you move at home? AIA Vitality members can receive a 25% discount on eligible Garmin devices. Plus, you can earn up to 100 Points per day by tracking steps, heart rate, speed, or calories burned on any compatible wearable device (capped at 15,000 Points per membership year). And if you’re looking for at-home exercise inspiration, why not try out Laura Henshaw’s favourite workouts to do around the house?

Track health with self-tests

Thanks to Covid-19, it’s now second nature to test ourselves at home for things like cold and flu symptoms or vitamin deficiencies. It’s convenient, it boosts how much we know about our bodies, and it gives us greater control over our health and wellbeing.

Even though it’s a good idea to visit a doctor regularly, there are a few at-home health checks and screenings you can now do in the privacy of your own home.

You’ll likely be very familiar with Covid-19 home-use tests⁴, but did you know the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program⁵ sends free screening kits every two years to people aged 50 to 74? People aged 45 to 49 have recently been added to the program and can now request their first screening kit. People with a cervix now have the option to self-collect their own Cervical Screening Test⁶. While the test is facilitated at a GP’s office or other healthcare provider, you are given your own private space to self-collect your own sample, at your pace.

And while we’ve mentioned the fitness benefits of wearables, the latest models – including rings, smart watches, and continuous glucose monitors – include even more ways to analyse your health data and monitor biometrics like oxygen levels, the menstrual cycle, sleep quality, and sugar levels. Just take the readings with a grain of salt: while they can help you to learn about your health and spot any unusual trends, it’s best to see your GP for accurate tests and diagnosis.

If you’re ready to know more about your health and get proactive with your self-checks, the AIA Vitality app is a great place to start. The AIA Vitality skin check self-exam is a short, guided video that awards AIA Vitality members 1,000 Points for completing the check from the comfort of their living room.

Control your home’s environmental health

With research showing that Australians spend more than 80% of their time indoors⁷, it’s easy to see why understanding – and improving – a home’s environmental health is a growing area for smart tech.

Smart lighting is a way to prioritise health within the home – particularly sleep health. Spending more time inside under artificial light (and practising poor sleeping habits, like doomscrolling) can disrupt our body’s circadian rhythm – the ‘body clock’ that controls our sleep-wake cycle. A disrupted circadian rhythm can throw off your body’s ability to rest, perform, and cope with stress⁸.

Smart light bulbs can be programmed to follow the circadian rhythm, lowering light levels when it’s time to rest and raising them for a gentle wake-up call as the sun rises. Some can even change colour temperature to suit activity – cooler blue during the day, and warmer oranges and yellows at night to support melatonin production⁹.

Track nutrition and healthy habits

Your smartphone can be your key to understanding patterns and making balanced food choices. There are so many apps to help you meet health goals – such as reach a target weight or improve (or learn about!) your nutrition. They can help you monitor how many glasses of water you drink a day, count the caloric value of food so you know your energy intake, and even journal how you feel before, after, or during a meal¹⁰.

If you’re an AIA Vitality member, start tracking your nutrition via the Fitbit app or fitbit.com today to earn up to 1,200 Points per membership year. Why not start with a recipe from the AIA Vitality Eat Well Guide, or promote microbiome health at home with Marika Day’s gut-brain dinner party?

Footnotes

¹ https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/the-trends-defining-the-1-point-8-trillion-dollar-global-wellness-market-in-2024

² https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/12/22/physical-activity-levels-increased-by-smartphone-apps-and-fitnes.html

³ https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/26/23888984/whoop-coach-chatgpt-ai-fitness

⁴ https://www.tga.gov.au/products/covid-19/covid-19-tests/covid-19-rapid-antigen-self-tests-home-use/covid-19-home-use-tests

⁵ https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-bowel-cancer-screening-program

⁶ https://www.health.gov.au/self-collection-for-the-cervical-screening-test

⁷ https://www.health.vic.gov.au/your-health-report-of-the-chief-health-officer-victoria-2018/environmental-health/healthy-indoor#indoor-air-quality

⁸ https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-your-sleep-and-wake-cycles-affect-your-mood-2020051319792

⁹ https://www.sleepfoundation.org/bedroom-environment/light-and-sleep

¹⁰ https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/health/diet-nutrition/best-food-journals

Staff Writer

Staff writers come from a range of backgrounds including health, wellbeing, music, tech, culture and the arts. They spend their time researching the latest data and trends in the health market to deliver up-to-date information, helping everyday Australians live healthier lives. This is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.

Disclaimer:
Copyright © 2024 AIA Australia Limited (ABN 79 004 837 861 AFSL 230043). This is general information only, without taking into account factors like the objectives, financial situation, needs or personal circumstances of any individual and is not intended to be financial, legal, tax, medical, nutritional, health, fitness or other advice. The source information of the articles is current as of the date of publication and may be subject to change. While the information contained herein is believed to be accurate, AIA Australia expressly disclaims any and all liability for representations or warranties, expressed or implied, contained in, or for omissions from, the information.

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