We want to thank you for being a part of Heart Health on Evidation and share with you what members are saying about their experience.

We recently asked a series of questions about the benefits of the Personalized Heart Health Report and how you and other participants are using it. We’re excited to share what we learned. 

What is the Personalized Heart Health Report?

The Personalized Report is a record of your weekly diary entries. The diary asks you how you’re feeling, what your current weight is, and about any new or worsening symptoms related to heart health.

We ask these questions because, according to the American College of Cardiology, tracking these things is important for you and your care team to know how well your heart health is being managed. 

And because it tracks these things over time, the report helps you and your care team see just how you’re feeling from week to week, month to month, and so on. 

How are Heart Health on Evidation Members using the Personalized Reports?

We asked several questions about how you and other members of Heart Health on Evidation are using the Personalized Report. Here’s what members who downloaded their report had to say.

• Most enjoyed being able to track their steps, symptoms, weight, and mood over time.
• Many printed the report and took it to their next appointment. But did you know you can email it directly to your care team or save it to your phone or mobile device? 
• Some said they had trouble remembering to download the report, so we’ve added reminders to help! 

What do Heart Health on Evidation Members Have to Say about Their Reports?

“It reminds me to put me first.”

“It helps me be accountable and aware of my symptoms.”

“It reminds me that my heart health is important, and to keep trying to eat healthy and exercise even though sometimes I don’t want to. I get depressed and feel as if it doesn’t matter, but then I read something uplifting on Heart Health and try a little harder.”

“The report keeps information that could be important for you and your doctor in keeping your heart in the best shape it can be.”

How to download your Personalized Report

Once you’ve completed at least 3 diary entries, your report will be ready to download. It updates weekly, so be sure to check it regularly. 

You can access the report through the heart health section of your Evidation app (or on the site).

Step 1: First, you’ll want to click on the “heart icon” at the bottom of your app or in the menu bar if you’re online. 

Step 2: Scroll down the page until you see “Get Your Personalized Report.” 

‍

Step 3: Click on the “get report” button. 

‍

 ***If you haven’t completed at least 3 diary entries this button will be grayed out and unable to click. But don’t worry, once you complete 3 entries, you’ll be able to access it!

Step 4: After you press confirm, you’ll receive an email to download the report. You can save it to your device or print it!

Example Personalized Report

‍

It’s been a busy year on Evidation!

In 2021, members like you participated in over 200 research opportunities, contributed to 19 research publications, and together logged over 147 million days of activity data.

To honor all that hard work and to share back some of the exciting things that have happened, we wanted to highlight some of this year’s biggest accomplishments. 

In 2021 Evidation Members:

• Earned 7 billion points.
• Redeemed millions of dollars in awards.
• Completed 18 million offers.
• Logged 951 billion steps. That's equivalent to walking to the moon over 1,896 times!
• Logged over 2 billion minutes of exercise. If each minute of exercise burned 10 calories, our members burned the equivalent of 114 million donuts!
• Spent some of their time finding their zen. According to our most popular connected devices, members logged 8 million minutes of yoga this year.
• Joined from all over the US! California was the state with the most new members, and New York was the state that had the largest percent increase from last year.

New to Evidation in 2021:

We introduced several new features in 2021, including: 

‍

‍

Flu Monitoring on Evidation: Since November, 130,000 people have joined together to form our Flu Monitoring on Evidation community from all 50 states. In its first month alone, Flu Monitoring on Evidation identified nearly 6000 cases of flu-like symptoms from changes in activity data. This information can help people know when to access treatment and protect their loved ones. 

Steps Challenges: This year, some Evidation members stepped up their games in the form of a challenge, and in general, those who participated increased their steps! On Halloween, we wondered how trick or treating impacted our members’ activity levels, and our results showed that people who enrolled in the Halloween Steps Challenge stepped it up much more than people who opted out of the challenge - three times as much, to be precise! Stay tuned for more challenges in 2022.

Month In Review: We’re also working on sending you personalized insights on your healthy habits and activity, from steps to active minutes, which can be especially important to monitor during colder months as we tend to slow down. Keep an eye out for this new feature!

We also launched a new blog so you can find your favorite posts (and maybe some you missed) all in one place. 

These efforts and others like them help bring us closer to achieving our mission of creating new ways to measure and improve health in everyday life. But none of it would be possible without you! 

What’s Next?

We plan to keep the momentum going in 2022 by offering you more opportunities to earn points and participate in challenges. We’ll also be creating additional health programs and offering more personalized content experiences.   

And be sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming Research 101 series and our Diversity in Research series!

Last month was Women’s History Month and later this month we celebrate one special group of women in our lives — the group of women we call mothers.

We know that Mother’s Day can be difficult for many, and we recognize that the word “mother” means many things.

With that in mind, we want to share the love and inspiration that comes from the women in our lives, whoever they are.

Some of these women have given birth, some have raised us, taught us, picked us up when we’ve been knocked down. Others have been friends, sisters, aunts, lovers. Some, we have lost.

But each of them have inspired us in one way or another.

And inspiration is something we appreciate here at Evidation.

So, we’d like to highlight the women who’ve inspired our community of members!

We recently asked Evidation Members about the women who inspire them, and the response was amazing!

Over 19,000 members sent us inspiring stories of the women in their lives.

It took us a while to get through the many heartfelt submissions, and while we’d love to share them all, we’ve chosen to highlight a few here in honor of women everywhere.

Meet our members and the women who inspire them

“Ms. Thomas was my first African American female teacher in the third grade; also my only till I reached college. We instantly bonded and have a relationship to this day. She was such a smart and powerful woman and I think she is one of the many people that have encouraged and supported me to become the woman I am today. I could not imagine what my school experience would have been without her. She was always there to offer me extra support outside of class time and continued to help when I was no longer in her class. I can say that I love this woman and am so glad that she is a part of my life.” — Brieanna, Lexington

‍

“My friend Michelle inspires me in many ways. She is a retired firefighter/paramedic. She has been a competitive bodybuilder. Is a yoga instructor, painter, quilter and end of life doula. When she turned 50 she walked the Camino de Santiago and hiked the Kalalau in Kauai, both in a skirt. (Because, you know, year of the skirt). She is a wife, mother, and grandmother. She loves life and encourages others to love themselves and their life too.” — Karen, Las Vegas

‍

“My Lola (grandmother in Tagalog) is a truly inspiring woman. She originally graduated at the top of her class in accounting, then when she was in her 40s, she fought ageism and attended medical school to become an ophthalmologist. Not only is she brilliant, she is also a wonderful mother to 7 children, and Lola to her 13 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. She was also one of the first female drivers in the Philippines. While my mom’s classmates were being picked up by their drivers, my Lola decided to learn how to drive a car so she could pick up her children herself. At 94 years old today, she is still brilliant, witty and going strong.” — Mariella, Toledo

‍

“Nhu is a very dear friend of mine and she came to USA around 1980. She became USA citizens and is very much a good person. She has had her struggles along the way as she lives here in the USA and had always been a positive person no matter what happened to her as far as people treat her, she has always look to a more positive attitude towards them as she goes on with her life, she appreciate being here from where she came from she is a refugee from Vietnam and I can only imagine what her life was before her life here! To be so patient and positive about things takes a lot of patience and I love and dearly respect her for that. She has inspired me to look at things in a more patient and kind away in my life. She is a very dear and precious friend to have.” — Sher, Tacoma

‍

“She has been my head principal for 10 years, and she continually inspires teachers, students, staff, parents, and the community to do and be their best. She never accepts excuses, and is continually looking for solutions to problems that make our high school awesome. She also treats everyone equally, which I never experienced until she came. She even helped our band to get funding for new marching band uniforms which we haven’t had in a few decades. I’m just sad to see her retire at the end of this school year, but wish her the best in her next chapter. I’m very grateful for knowing because she has made me a better teacher. I’ll never forget her.” — Charles, West Jordan

Give back by supporting woman-friendly charities

Evidation Members can donate the money they earn in app to a variety of charities. Some of the charities that are supportive of women and woman-related issues are:

• Black Girls Code
• Black Women’s Health Alliance
• Girls who Code
• Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
• Tides Foundation
• Loveland Foundation

Want to learn more about Evidation? Click here!

Our CEO, Deborah Kilpatrick, recently spoke on a podcast about the importance of everyday behavior data and the future of health. After working in the medical technology space, she joined Evidation Health in 2014. Evidation partners with the world’s leading healthcare companies and enables everyone to participate in research. We’re focused on helping people measure everyday activities. We’re also invested in connecting our community to opportunities that will help them better understand the conditions that impact them and their loved ones. Listen more on this podcast here.

‍

Here at Evidation, we’ve been identifying opportunities to contribute to COVID research. THe Evidation app is a product of Evidation Health, and has a community of over 3 million and members all around the United States. With an engaged research population representing a variety of zip codes and demographics, we’re uniquely positioned to help researchers and organizations conduct meaningful research about the pandemic.

On June 4th, Evidation Health announced a new effort to develop an early warning algorithm to detect symptoms of COVID-19 and to understand susceptibility to infection, funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Many infected individuals are asymptomatic but still able to spread the virus, making efforts to prevent and slow transmission of COVID-19 difficult,” said Luca Foschini, Ph.D., Evidation’s co-founder and chief data scientist. “This initiative will use novel behavioral and physiological data to more effectively identify when and where people may contract COVID-19, and can potentially enable real-time interventions to limit spread and monitor outcomes.”

The analysis, performed in collaboration with non-profit 4YouandMe, will use de-identified data generated by self-reporting and wearable devices to track symptoms of COVID-19 in those at particularly high risk, including health care workers and other first responders, in order to better understand susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. One potential outcome of this work is an early warning algorithm to help individuals better understand and monitor their respiratory disease symptoms and take precautions against their spread.

“The ability to self-monitor and be informed of health status will empower Americans in their decisions to help slow the spread of this pandemic and improve health outcomes for people with COVID-19,” said BARDA Acting Director, Gary Disbrow, Ph.D. “This pilot study is not only an early step in demonstrating the utility of models developed using person-generated health data but also may provide data to better understand the varied symptoms of COVID-19.”

This program follows Evidation’s work with BARDA to monitor individuals for respiratory infections, such as influenza. Evidation’s existing research on influenza utilizes person-generated health data and population-based models with the goal of improving real-time respiratory infection monitoring at the individual and population level. BARDA is contributing a $720,000 award as part of BARDA’s COVID-19 Rapidly Deployable Capabilities program to identify and pilot near-term innovative solutions for COVID-19. Support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is from the $250 million the foundation has committed to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

‍

We’ve been continuing to monitor sentiment in the community around the coronavirus through an Evidation Survey called COVID Pulse. Since kicking off the survey on March 12th right after the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, we’ve been sending out a weekly survey to our members.

We wanted to quantify participation and interest and share some of the latest trends from our most recent surveys. After we released the first survey, we received over 120,000+ responses in five days from over 20,000 United States zip codes. The highest percentage of responses came from the age groups in the range of 30–39, followed by the 18–29 age range, and lastly, the 40–49 range. Though, we did see representation from members ages 18–80+! We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of members who have continued to check in week over week to share their sentiment surrounding coronavirus. In fact, 11% of survey respondents have completed all five COVID Pulse Surveys to date and 22%+ completed four out of five COVID Pulse Surveys.

Most recently, we saw that over 85% of respondents said that if social distancing and stay at home orders were lifted today, they would know what to do to reduce chances of contracting the coronavirus. We also saw that members would continue to take the necessary precautions even if social distancing guidelines and stay at home orders were lifted. Over 60% would continue to stay at home and maintain social distancing behaviors. Additionally, nearly 70% said they would continue to start to wear protective equipment (for example a face mask) in public settings. For those who responded in locations where shelter in place has been lifted, only ~25% of respondents said that they were attending small social events.

Through this challenging time, we were also inspired by our members who responded to many questions with great empathy and creativity as they have adapted to new routines. In fact, when asked about their concerns if they were to be diagnosed, 75% of respondents expressed concern over getting others sick in their worries. This fear was followed by 60% of respondents expressing their worry over the physical discomforts of getting sick. Regarding ways to minimize changes to physical and mental health, we’ve seen an uptick in individuals sharing the importance of maintaining whatever routines possible, avoiding or taking breaks from the news, and a continued connection through video chats with friends and family. In fact, maintaining connection through social media scored high for Evidation Members as a method to socialize with others. Both last week and this week, 70% of respondents said they used social media to socialize with other people.

‍

‍

We know a big part of your Evidation experience is connecting apps and wearables to your account. To date, there are 15+ apps that you can connect to Evidation to track different activities that you take. For a reminder of which apps are available and where you can connect these apps to your experience, check out the Connect Apps page here.

We’re pleased today to share that the Oura Ring is now available to connect to Evidation. To connect your OURA ring and app, please follow these directions below:

‍

1. Log into the Evidation app or website > middle tab (apps section)

‍

2. Connect > Oura > Log in to OURA account

Note: it may take a few minutes to sync. If the app shows ‘not yet synced’

‍

‍

‍

Please go back to the middle tab and click down to refresh the app. If all dates did not retroactively sync, we recommend to disconnect the app from Evidation and reconnect.

‍

‍

Learn What a Behaviorgram Is and How It Works

We have a talented team of data scientists and researchers focused on providing individuals the opportunity to participate in cutting edge research. When our members participate in research, the activity data that they consent for use in the research helps our team study a number of health behaviors — everything from how to measure chronic pain to better understanding the individual migraine experience.

Analyzing and contextualizing the behaviors of thousands of participants with millions of data points is not an easy task. Over the years, this analysis lead to the creation of something that we have internally named “behaviorgram”. The behaviorgram of a person is a collection of their data streams over the course of some time. A behaviorgram can be quite simple and consist of only a few data streams from a single device (such as heart rate and steps from an activity tracker) or it can be quite large and include multiple data streams from multiple sources. A behaviorgram can be visualized much like an ECG, and below, we provide a glimpse as to what this visual may look like.

In our studies, we may start with activity data from a Fitbit or Apple Watch and then layer on additional data such as survey responses (e.g., mood or feelings during the day) and contextual information (e.g., weather, air quality, and the time of the day). Dense behaviorgrams give us richer pictures of someone’s behavior over time. As a reference, the behaviorgrams we created for the research on Alzheimer’s disease we did with Eli Lilly and Apple in August contained dozens of data streams and included steps counts, walking pace, sleep depth, workout sessions, and many others.

Behaviorgrams help us put data into context and extract additional insights from it. For example, we can more easily analyze how heart rate changes when people are in a workout session, or the effect that talking on the phone has on walking pace. It also allows us to derive new data channels from the existing ones. For instance, while MyFitnessPal already reports how many grams of protein and calories are eaten, we often find it useful to layer in a channel that represents the percentage of calories that came from protein. Similarly, we often add a new data stream that represents heart rate during periods of inactivity (i.e., no steps).

‍

What would actually help you visualize a behaviorgram? A picture of course! We wanted to illustrate that there are small moments throughout your daily life that can have a significant impact on your health, and we were fortunate enough to get consent to share one of our colleague’s visual health journey via the various apps they have connected on Evidation. Looking at their data from the last 6 months, we tracked down a few key dates where we noticed specific behavior changes and asked them to add labels to the behaviorgram on what happened in their life on those days. Sure enough — in a week with less sleep, we uncovered they were abroad, working until late to match California time and then having troubles falling asleep due to jet lag and an uncooperative baby. You can see other activity trends like sightseeing with friends in Singapore and New York on high steps count days, frequent awakenings in sleep during a night spent on an international flight, and a spike in logged calories when they had leftover sweets for breakfast. You can also see that they were able to sleep longer when the baby was away with the grandmother. We got a good laugh out of the observation that the company offsite was a high fat/protein-heavy day!

Based on weather data, the highest precipitation day is low in activity! Though some of our team is based in sunny locations, it highlights that weather does impact our activity. Related, given the air quality impact that the Wildfires had in California this year, you can see that during the time of the fires 11/25 to 12/14, they did not spend much time outside and took some time off from exercising (with the exception of their time in New York!)

Keep an eye out for more references to behaviorgrams from us! Our hope is that they’ll begin to become a tool by which you contextualize different actions that you take. We also know that big life changes can impact your habits and health. That’s why we’re planning on sharing some personal stories from our team on the journey to being a new parent and its impact on health routine. We also want to capture events like life with a newborn to highlight trends that our specific team members are experiencing to show activity patterns during the first few months of these very significant milestones.

We’re back to share more about the growing community of Evidation Members. No matter where you are in your health journey, we want to commend you for taking steps to become a better version of you. Over the last year, we’ve asked members to share their stories with us. Since then, we’ve received more than 160,000 stories! Here’s a look at some of the many stories members have shared — hopefully one of them will help inspire you as they’ve inspired us.

Whether you’re looking for a source of motivation, a community to learn from, or are here for a few extra bucks, we’re happy to be a part of your journey! Here’s another look at some of your fellow Evidation Members and their stories:

“A friend told me about Evidation which I’ve been using for quite a while. It gives me credit for my daily exercise, weigh-ins and tracking my food which I do daily. It helps keep me in the zone and best of all has paid me for my efforts! What’s better than that? I just had a Grand Opening in Oceanside, NY for my business, Restorative Wellness and Weight Loss. I plan to share this app with all my clients. What a great motivator!” — (Wendy C., New York)

“I have been a part of a research study on breakthrough pain through Evidation, and it’s really helped me to be more aware of my body and what kind of triggers are causing my pain. It has also caused me to look into other ways of relieving my pain, such as yoga and deep stretching, and to gain some muscular structure back that I had lost before.” — (Stacy M., Tennessee)

“I have been using Evidation to help me stay on top of my health and fitness. I have a busy schedule and it’s hard to stay on top of things. In 2016, I was 227 lbs, very depressed and unhappy. After making several lifestyle changes, I have gotten down to 166lbs and maintained that since 2018. Evidation helps me stay on top of why health by keeping me accountable.” — (Nicole M., California)

“Through the research projects and daily accountability, Evidation has supported my increased health outcomes. By participating in a chronic pain study, daily loggings have helped my provider and I to track some of the triggers that have affected my pain levels. Additionally, being accountable to the overall app gives me motivation to get outside my comfort zone and get out and move even when I am not physically feeling like it.” — (Karen K., Colorado)

“Using Evidation really helped me during a time of my life when I was down. We moved from my hometown and I was so sad, depressed, and motivated. I was in a funk, I felt lost, and did not want to leave my house. No friends or close family. When I started my health journey I got out of the house to attend group exercise and made friends. Not only did I have an online community cheering me on, I stepped out of my comfort zone again and felt like a better version of myself. Thanks for keeping me accountable!” — (Christina W., Texas)

“I have been using the Evidation App for a few years now and I love how I build points for demonstrating regular and consistent healthy practices. As a Tour Director and Travel Professional, it’s great to know that regardless of the activity or destination I may be in there is still an app that will incentivize me to staying fit. Through the use of this app, I have been able to climb the Great Wall of China, hike Machu Picchu, Swim between Thailand islands, and walk on African Safaris. Thank you Evidation for making this app user friendly, simple, and personable.” — (Justin C., Arizona)

“I am 64 years old. I want to be a future fun Grandpa and with the support of Evidation, I will be able physically as well as emotionally to prepare for my next adventure. This is why I hike and walked so much.” — (Rusty L., Indiana)

“The Evidation App has allowed me to accurately track certain aspects of my health and fitness activities, which allows me to create better habits. Seeing my progress and stats turn into points both extrinsically and intrinsically rewards me. This part of the app, as well as reading interesting health studies has huge, positive impacts for future health gains.” — (Kathleen E., Florida)

“From looking at my lifestyle, my health wasn’t what I need it to be. Evidation helps me create a goal for me to challenge myself to get active and to be more involved with the local area. I have been going out for walks, participate in a gym, and being more aware of the foods I eat. With a group of friends, it becomes a fun activity! In a way, I hope my choice in exercise also inspire others to participate in fitness.” — (Hanh N., Arkansas)

“I have been using Evidation for a while now, and the motivation and support I get from this app is unparalleled! It’s a constant reminder to get up and get moving, practice my yoga and meditation, and be that vibrant example of a holistic, balanced life for my daughter. The surveys and app functionality are a fun touch, too!” — (Meggie C., Idaho)

‍