Public health experts have traditionally relied on self-reported data from online questionnaires, in-person interviews, and telephone surveys to gain insight into a population’s health. However, real-time data sources are emerging with greater potential to provide a more accurate and complete picture of human health.
HHS www.hhs.gov and the Public Health Agency of Canada www.phac-aspc.gc.ca have announced competitions to spur innovative ideas on how to collect precise wellness data from people’s daily activities. The competitive ideas could also help public health experts make more informed health policy recommendations.
A prize of $100,000 is being offered to the “Healthy Behavior Data Challenges” competition winner. The competition will focus on the use of new technologies such as wearable devices and mobile applications capable of collecting data related to nutrition, sleep, physical activity, and sedentary behavior.
The competitions will include parallel data challenges to run separately in both the U.S and Canada. Residents and survey-data experts in both countries as well as innovators in health and technology from both the public and private sectors may enter each competition.
Go to https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/the-healthy-behavior-data-challenge for learn more about the “U.S Healthy Behaviors Data Challenge.”