Most Americans who use wearable activity trackers or mobile...

Most Americans who use wearable activity trackers or mobile apps make it a practice to share their personal health and wellness data with others, but they also crave “personalized feedback” on their data and are willing to pay for it, especially from a “trusted health expert,” such as a doctor, nutritionist or fitness trainer, said the findings of a Harris Poll done for the website Wellocracy (http://bit.ly/1uIW0BE). Harris canvassed 2,060 U.S. adults online in late April, and found 467 of them had used a wearable activity tracker or smartphone or tablet app in the past 12 months, it said. Of those, 72 percent reported sharing their personal health data with family, a health professional, friends, colleagues and social media, it said. “Consumers are embracing personal connected health technologies but want more than just charts and graphs showing how many steps they've walked, calories they've consumed or hours of deep sleep they got last night,” said Wellocracy. “They crave expert guidance, feedback on their personal health data and the knowledge that someone who cares is watching and encouraging their progress. We believe in the value of wearable devices and apps, but if they are going to be more than a passing fad, we need to include personalized motivation and feedback mechanisms to keep individuals engaged."