enable families to explore their own dynamics with mapping and coaching tools

Increasingly, every family member has a mobile phone. Doctors, therapists, and life coaches are recognizing that these phones can help families collect and learn from data about their habits, environment, and interpersonal dynamics. Working with the Semel Institute, we are developing technologies to document key features of a family’s daily interactions (e.g., co-location, family meals, and consistency). Phone-based tools can collect data otherwise invisible to wellness professionals who most commonly rely on family member self-reporting. For example, families and coaches can learn about behaviors such as consistency of engagement at mealtimes using measures of proximity to one another, as revealed by Bluetooth stumbling [Kotanen03]. Media journals composed of images, video and audio from the phones in combination with GPS and Bluetooth co-location data can provide an evidence-based bridge between individuals, families, and wellness professionals. We are also exploring similar approaches to assess trends in the physical mobility and habits of elders to enhance independent living.

The first coaching tool we are prototyping is Andwellness. It is a personal health self-management application for the Android phones that supports flexible geo-spatial, social and activity triggered reminders and ecological momentary assessment.