Recent data from the World Health Organization indicates that COVID-19 is to blame for an increase of 25% in depression and anxiety worldwide. It is not hopeless. Recent research found that those who used Garmin smartwatches to track physiological data were less susceptible than others of experiencing symptoms of major depressive disorder. The study was a collaboration between Labfront, ThoughtFull and Garmin. It combined therapy with physiological data monitoring to see how people respond. Project Cheria, a research project, found that individuals who used Garmin watches to track physical data, such as sleep quality, duration, stress, steps taken, heart-rate variability, and resting hearts rates, showed 37% improvement on a self-reported health questionnaire tracking major depressive disorder.
Project Cheria
Mental health problems can have a significant impact on productivity at work due to absenteeism and presenteeism. Digital mental interventions, which provide discreet advice and support, can reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. Personalization is also possible. Project Cheria uses smartwatches for virtual therapy and mental health care.
Labfront is an online platform that provides project management, physiological data and allows researchers to monitor participants using consumer wearables such as Garmin smartwatches. The project also involves ThoughtFull, Asia's largest digital mental health company. They partner with employers and insurance companies to provide mental healthcare.
Garmin Technology and Mental Health Research
The selection of 124 participants in this project was based upon a variety of criteria including their scores on the Patient's Health Questionnaire (9). The PHQ-9 is the PHQ module for major depression disorders. Scores can range between 0 and 27, with a higher score indicating a more severe depression disorder. Participants in this study had scores ranging from 0-9, indicating mild to normal symptoms of major depressive disorder.
The participants in the intervention group wore Garmin Venu (r), Sq GPS watches. These watches recorded physical data such as sleep quality, duration, stress levels, steps, and resting heart rates. Labfront used the Garmin Health API and the Companion SDK to get more detailed information.
Chris Peng, the CEO of Labfront, is a seasoned professional. He said, "We chose Garmin because we wanted to have access to the granular data intervals via Labfront in order to derive HRV." HRV seems to be closely correlated with depression. According to studies, people with major depression have a lower HRV than healthy controls. Increased or elevated HRV is associated with positive emotions, flexibility, social involvement, and positive emotion regulation.
Participants in both the control and intervention group were given access to the ThoughtFullChat app. It is a platform for subscribers that enables users to take control of their mental well-being through guided lessons and self-reporting, as well text-based coaching by certified mental health professionals.
ThoughtFull's CEO Joan Low stated, "Understanding that many mental healthcare insights still rely heavily upon subjective data, our clinicians wanted to improve their ability to dig deeper and better understand clients' progress by integrating objective data into their intervention methods." Labfront's wearable and Labfront's platform were the most effective ways to collect in-depth information.
Financial Well-being in Every Stage of Your life:
It is essential to educate young people and adolescents about financial literacy. Encourage budgeting, and use of credit cards responsibly. Plan ahead for higher education costs and know how much your student loans are worth.
In midlife, focus on building wealth and investing for retirement. Review and adjust your financial goals as circumstances change.
Plan your retirement well in advance. Revision your estate plan and consider long-term medical insurance.
Retirement: Make sure your retirement savings will last you through retirement. Find part-time work or volunteer.
Financial well-being is a journey that lasts a lifetime:
Setting financial goals is the first step to financial well-being. These goals can be short-term, such as paying off credit card debts, or long-term, like saving money for retirement and education. Concrete goals can provide guidance and motivation.
Budgeting: A well-structured budget is the foundation of financial health. It helps individuals understand their cash flow, and prioritise expenses. Tracking expenses and adjusting the budget is essential.
An emergency fund is a crucial part of your financial plan. This fund will provide financial security if an unexpected event occurs, such as a job or medical loss. The fund typically covers between three and six months of living expenses.
Mental Health Insight Using Physiological Markers
Project Cheria found that users in Project Cheria saw a 37% increase in their PHQ-9 scores compared to the control group, who didn't see any improvement. The study found that digital mental interventions could be improved with data from Garmin wearables about physical activity, sleep quality and subjective feedback from patients. Users can gain greater insight on mental health and take action based on their physiological markers.
These results will be the basis for future research that examines whether physiological factors such as sleep, heart rate and activity can be used to predict mood/depression. The healthcare professionals could intervene and encourage patients to increase physical activity.
Want to learn more about similar projects. You can learn about a project aimed at predicting depression and preventing it in the future. You can also learn more about Garmin Health research projects.
Garmin devices are not designed to diagnose or monitor any medical conditions or diseases. This page contains information on metric accuracy.
Garmin invites health researchers to attend the next Garmin Health Webinar. This 45-minute Webinar offers unique insights into Garmin’s latest sensor technology. Garmin wearables are used to discuss research challenges. Researchers interested in attending the event can register by clicking here.
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