Behavior change through information availability and financial incentives

The presence of the big data era is increasingly difficult to ignore, but what is its influence exactly? Even if big data results in some beneficial outcomes, are humans being enslaved or empowered?

One example of behavior change through the availability of big data is personal power consumption. Home electricity consumption was reduced when individuals were able to self-monitor and obtain feedback on their resource use. There were 7-10% reductions with data and feedback [1,2], and a 32% reduction with data and feedback plus incentives [3].

It is a subtle line between the coercion of social pressure and other invisible influences and the ability to make a truly self-empowered choice whilst living in society. One answer philosophers have had to this question is that at least awareness of the issue helps. Irrespective of the source of motivations, the fact that responsibility-taking through greater awareness and access to information has been demonstrated could possibly be extended to have a similarly transformative impact on health and other sectors.

References
[1] Wood G, Newborough M. Dynamic energy-consumption indicators for domestic appliances: environment, behaviour and design. Energy and Buildings 2003 Sep;35(8);821-41.
[2] Parker DS. Pilot Evaluation of Energy Savings from Residential Energy Demand Feedback Devices. Solar Energy 2008 Jan; 13.
[3] Petersen JE, Shunturov V, Janda K, Platt G, Weinberger K. Dormitory residents reduce electricity consumption when exposed to real-time visual feedback and incentives. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 2007;8(1);16-33.

Job of the near-future: health advisor

The health advisor is analogous to the financial advisor or mortgage broker that arose last decade when it became possible to trade stocks and get mortgage quotes on the internet. This advisor is familiar with the whole ecosystem of services and service providers in a sector whether finances, home buying and selling, or in this case, personalized health management.

The health advisor designs comprehensive wellness plans that integrate multiple health data streams such as family history, personal health history, genomics, and eventually microbiomic, proteomic and metabolomic profiles. The health advisor would recommend what type of genomic sequencing to sign up for (for example, 23andMe genotyping or Illumina whole human sequencing) and interpret the results and suggest action items. The health advisor would recommend and administer self-tracking programs and gadgets for diet, nutrition, medication and supplementation, exercise, and sleep management. The health advisor would recommend clinical trials or crowdsourced health studies that might be relevant for individuals to join. The health advisor could be compensated with pre-tax HSA (health savings account) dollars or other tax-advantaged funds.

This is a job category of the near future, as health advisor certification programs and wellness coaches are already arising.