Google and the University of Oregon are collaborating on a study on digital wellbeing that examines the mental health effects of smartphones. The researchers are making use of an app called Google Health Studies to investigate the ways in which people interact with their gadgets and the health implications of doing so.
Dr. Nicholas Allen, the University’s Professor, Center for Digital Mental Health explained in a blog post that the ultimate goal of the research is to help companies build better products and perhaps affect future policy and education. Allen and his colleagues at UoC are using the Google Health Studies app to properly understand how smartphone users behave. The research team tries to find out how this is as compared to other studies in which participants are required to track and report their own app usage.
They anticipate that this app-based strategy would enable them to discover links that other studies have overlooked, such as the correlation between screen time and sleep. They also expect that decreasing the amount of labour required of participants will allow them to attract a bigger number of individuals. It could also help them obtain data from underserved and younger groups.
Allen says his team will use “passive and continuous sensor technologies” to obtain “direct, objective measures of how people use their phones”. They claim that your smartphone will be able to “directly assess several of the well-established pillars of health, such as sleep and physical activity”.
Iz Conroy, a spokesperson for Google, stated that the system uses “several of the same APIs as” Android’s built-in Digital Wellbeing system, which monitors how you use your smartphone, but that the “data is collected separately under transparent research methods.” Conroy cited the number of times you unlock your phone and the app categories you use as examples of the data that will be collected for the project.
The post states that users would be required to provide “informed consent” to participate and that the data “will be managed according to strict ethical standards and will only be used for research and to inform better products.” A clear disclaimer is included, stating that the data “will never be sold or used for advertising.”
The Google Health Studies app was released in December of the year of the pandemic, with a study on respiratory illnesses. People can use it to sign up for studies, and it will collect their information and put it all together so that researchers can see trends in demographics but not specific information about an individual.
If you’re interested in participating in the digital well-being study, you may download the app from the Play Store and join up on Friday, May 27th, when the survey opens. The study will monitor your health and phone usage for four weeks.
“By participating in Google Health Studies research, you can help leading institutions and researchers develop a better understanding of your community’s specific health issues and needs. Your study participation can impact the health of your region — and even the future of healthcare for all.”
