{"id":2213,"date":"2018-10-08T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=2213"},"modified":"2018-10-05T16:58:56","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T21:58:56","slug":"the-rise-of-health-tracking-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2018\/10\/08\/the-rise-of-health-tracking-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rise of Health-Tracking Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2215\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2215\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bekathwia\/11502836793\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2215 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/10\/11502836793_a1f4fedf2a_z-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/10\/11502836793_a1f4fedf2a_z-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/10\/11502836793_a1f4fedf2a_z-450x600.jpg 450w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2018\/10\/11502836793_a1f4fedf2a_z.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2215\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Becky Stern, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The newest <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/technology-45518040\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apple Watch can now warn users<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> when it detects an abnormal heartbeat. While Apple may be on the cutting edge, many people have been using apps to track their food intake and exercise for some time. Social science research demonstrates that health-tracking technology reflects larger social forces and institutions. <\/span><\/p>\n<h5>These health-tracking apps are part of a larger trend in American medicine that researchers call \u201cbiomedicalization,\u201d which includes a greater focus on health (as opposed to illness), risk management, surveillance, and includes a variety of technological advances.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cstms.berkeley.edu\/people\/adele-clarke\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adele E. Clarke<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/profiles.ucsf.edu\/janet.shim\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Janet K. Shim<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/healthed.sfsu.edu\/people\/faculty\/laura-mamo\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Laura Mamo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsociety.com\/Contributors\/F\/Fosket-Jennifer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jennifer Ruth Fosket<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcgill.ca\/biomedicalethicsunit\/faculty\/fishman\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jennfier R. Fishman<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2003. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/pdf\/1519765.pdf?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Biomedicalization: Technoscientific Transformations of Health, Illness, and U.S. Biomedicine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Sociological Review<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 68: 161\u201394.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcl.ac.uk\/sspp\/departments\/sshm\/people\/Affiliates\/davidarmstrong.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">David Armstrong<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 1995. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1111\/1467-9566.ep10933329\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Rise of Surveillance Medicine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sociology of Health and Illness<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 17: 393\u2013404.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Benefits of using these apps include empowering patients and not having to rely on doctors for knowledge about one\u2019s body, which &#8212; as many of the apps advertise &#8212; may save time and money by potentially allowing them to avoid doctor visits. However, self-tracking may put more onus on the individual to maintain their health on their own, leading to blame for those who do not take advantage of this technology. Further, using this technology could lead to strain in doctor-patient relationships if doctors believe patients are undermining their authority.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.canberra.edu.au\/about-uc\/faculties\/arts-design\/courses\/communications-staff\/lupton-deborah\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deborah Lupton<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2016. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Quantified-Self-Deborah-Lupton\/dp\/150950060X\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Quantified Self: A Sociology of Self-Tracking<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.canberra.edu.au\/about-uc\/faculties\/arts-design\/courses\/communications-staff\/lupton-deborah\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deborah Lupton<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Annemarie Jutel. 2015. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0277953615002245\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018It\u2019s Like Having a Physician in Your Pocket!\u2019 A Critical Analysis of Self-Diagnosis Smartphone Apps<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social Science &amp; Medicine<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 133: 128\u201335.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As more and more Americans use smartphones, the promise of digital technology, including health-tracking apps, for reducing existing health disparities grows. However, the Pew Research Center shows <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pewinternet.org\/fact-sheet\/mobile\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">large income and educational gaps still exist<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in smartphone use, meaning the health benefits of using such technology &#8212; as well as potential downfalls &#8212; for the greater population, may be a long way off. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The newest Apple Watch can now warn users when it detects an abnormal heartbeat. While Apple may be on the cutting edge, many people have been using apps to track their food intake and exercise for some time. Social science research demonstrates that health-tracking technology reflects larger social forces and institutions. These health-tracking apps are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2020,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,33,13],"tags":[18412,38543,110419,110424,110430,43096,38544,110418,110421,1139,2881,2889,38541,3071,16723,110426,18408,3486,3488,2143,12],"class_list":["post-2213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-health","category-inequality","tag-biomedicalization","tag-culture","tag-digital-health","tag-digital-technology","tag-educational-inequality","tag-fitbit","tag-health","tag-health-app","tag-health-tracking","tag-healthcare","tag-illness","tag-income-inequality","tag-inequality","tag-medicine","tag-quantified-self","tag-risk-managment","tag-self-tracking","tag-smart-phone","tag-smartphone","tag-surveillance","tag-technology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2213"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2217,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213\/revisions\/2217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}