You use Evidation to conveniently monitor progress toward personal health goals. By making datasets available to scientists, Evidation also is helping uncover insights to benefit people with multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and other conditions. So, it’s important for you and researchers alike to know that Evidation's quality of life measures stand up.

Prior research conducted with activity trackers has shown that some behaviors (such as inconsistent sleep patterns) are associated with lower levels of physical and mental well-being. While this seems logical, we wanted to see if data collected via Evidation’s unobtrusive, hands-free methods have the same correlations.

Our scientists analyzed activity and sleep metrics from more than 600 Evidation Members using a global health assessment tool to assign scores for physical and mental health measures. (Controls included age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, and medical markers of anxiety and depression.) The 600 members involved in this analysis included members who had self reported having anxiety and depression and were a part of the Mental Health Study.

In this analysis of activity and sleep metrics, here’s what our researchers found:

• Two-thirds of members who participated in this study had scores above the median level for both physical and mental health. One-third scored below the median.
• Those with higher scores were more physically active, walking an average of 1,674 more steps and burning 100 more calories daily than those with scores below the median level.
• Individuals with lower scores demonstrated less consistent sleep than those with scores above the median.

The conclusion? Passive apps where most information is collected automatically can accurately characterize key quality of life metrics — good news for you and for scientists.

An ongoing, year-long study continues to examine a subset of member activity and sleep data, plus self-reported quality of life, mental health, and use of health care resources. Stay tuned as we share more on these findings, plus future research participation opportunities.

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At Evidation, we’re passionate about helping everyone reach their individual health goals. That could be in the form of getting paid for doing health-related activities as a little extra motivation, or by providing you with easy ways to understand your personal health. We also help to connect you with ways to contribute to cutting-edge research, where you can help to improve health for everyone. We wanted to share 5 of Achievement’s values that are important in our mission of helping everyone to participate in better health outcomes.

We meet you where you’re at

We understand that everyone’s health goals and needs are not the same; that’s why we individualize your experience based on what you tell us is relevant to you. You can also choose to earn points for everything from step tracking, sleep tracking, continuous glucose monitoring, meditation and more. We are here to support your health goals, regardless of where you’re at in your personal health journey, like Sarai (a long time Achiever) explains:

“I have Fibromyalgia and chronic Myositis …. Life can become difficult and overbearing … Many, like me, are bound to a wheelchair 50% or more of the time. Can you imagine how unmotivated you can feel to get out of bed, let alone workout!? But as it stands, the best treatment for this condition, is to KEEP MOVING. Achievement provides that imaginary friend. One who will not give you unwanted advice, or invite you to things you cannot go to. It provides that gentle motivation, for you to set your own goals. Not that of your doctor, friend, or family member. But YOURS. You know your body best …. With Achievement I can keep track of my progress…” -Sarai H.

When you get started with Evidation, we encourage you to take the time to fill out your Health Survey so that we can provide you with study invitations, and other opportunities that are relevant to you.

You are in full control of your data

Evidation provides a place for you to view your data from your connected apps in one place. By centralizing this information, we can help you to better understand your health and ultimately achieve your health goals.

It’s entirely up to you to choose what you want to share and earn points for on Evidation. Whether you’re interested in steps, exercise, sleep, nutrition, meditation or something else, you can choose what activities will be shared.

This member shares how they’ve used multiple apps on Evidation to track their health:

“I’ve been a member of Evidation for a while and it has motivated me to take control of my health by syncing all of my apps into one place and then rewarding me for it. This has been vital for me recently because my health has taken a toll lately and I’ve needed to really step up my game and take control of what I can in my personal health, Evidation has made that simple.” — Isis F.

You can access and download all of your Evidation data in one place at any time, giving you more insight into your health. You can change your mind about what activities you want to track at any time. We provide you with control over what data you share with us and we do not sell your data to third parties without your clear consent. Your health data is yours.

We are transparent

We believe that it is important to always be clear and transparent with our members about how their data is used. We may use your anonymized data for our own internal research to advance the forefront of healthcare and share back insightful health trends and tips, such as whether or not air quality can affect activity patterns or how the World Series affected sleep patterns. Tristan shares why he chooses to share his data with Evidation:

“…Evidation is exciting for me as I get to send data to [them] every single day. Data gathering is fulfilling for me, especially knowing it’ll be put to good use, so that inspires me to log my activities all the time” — Tristan R.

We also give you the choice to participate in research projects related to your health interests, goals or conditions. The specific information you will be asked to share will be disclosed in the consent and/or disclosures for that particular project (each project may be different). Evidation Members have had the opportunity to participate in groundbreaking research around diabetes, mental health, and more.

We provide you the opportunity to give back to the causes you care about

It’s great to earn personal rewards for all of your health actions; however, many members also choose to use their rewards for a good cause. That’s why Evidation also provides the opportunity to donate your points to a health charity of your choice through Benevity when you reach 10,000 points. The points you earn for taking healthy actions can also go back to organizations that are working towards creating a healthier world. Elizabeth shares why she decided to donate her points:

“Evidation motivates me to exercise more since it adds points each time. It also motivates me to join support apps for my type 1 diabetes and read more research articles. When I hit 10,000 points I donated the $10 to JDRF International [Type 1 diabetes researching funding and advocacy] to help support the continuation of research to find a cure.” — Elizabeth P.

Your actions can impact many

At the individual level, we can take actions to control our health, but we believe that we can achieve and learn even more as a community. We’ve sent out offers to members with similar health conditions, allowing them to ask relevant questions they would like answered about health topics that matter to them, such as anxiety or diabetes.

You’ll also have the opportunity to qualify for and participate in cutting-edge research studies related to various conditions, for which you can earn additional points or money, and together we can contribute to and advance research that can help improve health for everyone. This Evidation Member shares how her participation in a study has helped in improving her health outcomes:

“I have been using Evidation for a few years now. I participated in the 1yr Cognitive Health Study that really helped me to know how to improve my cognitive health and protect my brain from damage due to diet and environment. It motivated me to start an exercise class for seniors … As of today we have 11 in the class…” — Janet A.

We’ve worked with a variety of research partners to conduct groundbreaking research and studies where members could participate and earn. Evidation members who participated in studies and research helped to advance research in conditions ranging from like asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, mental health, migraines, rheumatoid arthritis and more. The contributions made to these studies could impact millions in the future, and help to bring new understanding about these conditions. We think Jenny, a long time Evidation Member, sums it up best:

“…[Evidation] makes me feel good knowing that maybe one day my tracking could maybe help someone. I have depression and anxiety. If that helps even one person with this data collection I stand by it 100%.” — Jenny B.

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At Evidation, we're committed to putting our community first and to helping you reach your health goals no matter how big or small. We recently shared a survey out to our community. The feedback and responses we’ve been receiving from our work and research brings us comfort and assurance knowing that the Evidation app has made a positive impact on your lives. Our community of members is our driving force to create and learn new things that help you reach your health goals. Your stories have truly hit it home for us, and we love reading them.

We’re excited to continue to be part of your health journey and guide you in any step you need to keep achieving. Want to hear more about what our community of members feel? Meet the community and read their responses:

“I’ve been using Evidation for about 2 months now. I need to get back into exercising to earn more points. I like that it offers interesting articles to read and surveys. I enjoy Evidation because it will help me to reach my goals!” — (Emily D., Michigan)

“I have been using Evidation for a few years now. I participated in the 1yr Cognitive Health Study that really helped me to know how to improve my cognitive health and protect my brain from damage due to diet and environment. It motivated me to start an exercise class for seniors. This photo was last week. As of today we have 11 in the class. I am blessed!” — (Janet A., California)

“I have been using Evidation for probably close to 2 years now. I am hoping more people continue to use this so that data can be collected on activity, diet, weight, and sleep patterns and be studied to see the effects on health. This app has definitely made me track my weight closer and log my food more as well. I think this is a great app that may motivate people to make changes for a healthier lifestyle and better quality of life.” — (Ryan A., Florida)

“I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the participants in the [cognitive health] study. It was a great experience and has made me more aware of what I need to do to keep my memory healthy. It has taught me which foods are essential for mental health and the need for exercise.” — (Carol C., PA)

“I have been using Evidation since the beginning of the year and it has been an awesome tool to quantifying my activities each day. I am a marathon runner but Evidation has been awesome for seeing all of the activities aside from running. It also just runs in the background of my daily life and will eventually earn me some money. I have been managing my own blog for my running for the past year and Evidation is changing the game for me.” — (Amanda R., South Carolina)

“I’ve been using Evidation now for about a month and a half and it’s amazing that I can earn money for being active! I challenge myself everyday to walk more and more to earn even more points then I did the day before. Cheers to being healthy! :)” — (Madison S., Indiana)

“It has been difficult to find a health routine to fit my third shift schedule. Working from midnight to 8 am sometimes forces you to eat bad food to stay awake! Fitbit and Evidation keep me accountable. I am now on a workout routine that gives me energy to put my all into work and my relationships outside of work.” — (Lauren B., Ohio)

“Evidation has been great in motivating me to get to a better place. Seeing the points I accumulate only makes me want to do more! I signed up as a means to better my health due to having high blood pressure since the age of 3. About two years ago, I decided to take up running to help do my part. Since then I have been getting faster, going farther, and feeling better than I ever have!” — (Eddy R., Pennsylvania)

“Having an app pay me to work out definitely has given me the motivation to join a gym and become a healthier happier person. I was also part of a migraine study which I hope my data is used to help someway in the future.” — (Katie N., MA)

Thanks again to all of our Evidation Members who have already shared their amazing stories. We’d love to hear from more of you! What does Evidation mean to you? What do you want to achieve? How can we help get you there? And let’s not forget, you can be a part of our Evidation community! Check out some of their awesome smiles below.

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According to 2015 Pew Research, “one in three cell phone owners have used their phone to look for health information.” Four years ago, we started Evidation to help everyone understand their personal health, take control of their health journey, and help contribute to improving the health of everyone. Here are the top three reasons why tracking your health with Evidation will help you be part of something just a little bit bigger than yourself this holiday season.

1. Actively participate in your health

With the over 30+ apps that you can connect to Evidation, we’re able to look at patterns of activity levels and do a deep dive into tracking health and wellness. We’ve published research around how your social engagements can impact activity levels. Lastly, we’ve given our community a chance to learn from each other, asking communities of individuals what questions they have for one another and sharing back the results.

2. Learn about health and research through insights

With a community of over a million, we’re constantly looking for opportunities to highlight and share relevant research tailored to you. We’ve also done deep dives on seasonal trends over the last year, including a step analysis around the Pokemon Go phenomenon, the difference between men and women during Back to School, and a look across the United States at Halloween calorie count.

3. Participate in ground-breaking research to advance the health of everyone

We’re focused on building a product that makes your interactions with health unified. We believe that health is much more than a visit to the doctor. It’s a constant effort every day of how to track/monitor healthy activities — whether it be steps taken, heart rate monitored, sleep tracked, or even meditation sessions executed. Sign up for Evidation today and starting taking health-related actions, including contributing to cutting-edge clinical studies that are tailored to your specific health conditions.

The change in seasons often brings with it a change in routine. So we wanted to know how the transition from summer to fall affects our health and wellness, and we’re excited to share these insights from Evidation Members.

The transition to fall can be especially cumbersome for parents as they juggle back to school duties, but is one parent more impacted than the other by the changing season? We decided to take a closer look at how moms and dads health holds up during the seasonal transition. We were also curious to explore how sleep and steps between parents and non-parents compared.

Who is catching more zzzs?

We uncovered a statistically significant gender disparity between moms and dads. Moms sleep 5 minutes less in the summer than their non-mom counterparts. As the school year ramps up in late August and early September, the difference is significantly more pronounced on weekdays. Moms sleep 10 minutes less than their non-mom counterparts. Dads, on the other hand, show no consistent differences from their counterparts in summer or fall. If anything, they may sleep slightly more.

Moms are also taking a bigger hit in sleep interruption than Dads. Moms sleep 0.34% less than non-moms and 1.4% less than dads. Surprisingly though, non-dads have the most sleep interruptions, spending 8.3% of the night awake.

What time is everyone falling asleep?

Moms fall asleep 12 minutes earlier than non-moms, while dads fall asleep 24 minutes earlier than non-dads. So, while dads don’t seem to be sleeping any less if they are a parent, they appear to be shifting their sleep schedules more. Interestingly, all four groups shift their bedtimes earlier in fall, possibly due to earlier sunsets.

Who is taking more steps?

Moms take fewer steps than non-moms in general. During the summer, moms take 427 fewer steps/day on weekends and 243 fewer steps/day on weekdays. However, when the school year starts, their weekends show an even larger deficit, at 543 fewer steps/day vs non-moms. Their weekdays step counts improve markedly, though, at just 85 fewer steps/day than non-moms.

Dads show the opposite pattern. They actually take more steps than non-dads. In the summer, they have an average of 250 steps/day more than non-dads, while in the fall, they have an average of 348 steps/day more than non-dads.

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