“How have you leveraged wearable technology to personalize healthcare for your family? What’s one surprising insight you gained from this approach?”
When it comes to wearables and personalized healthcare, the moment things really clicked for my family wasn’t about heart rate zones or sleep stages—it was about rhythm. Not the “REM cycle” kind. I mean the actual rhythm of our lives—when we eat, when we move, how we wind down.
We started using WHOOP bands last year, mostly out of curiosity. What surprised me wasn’t the data itself—it was the friction it revealed. For example, I always thought my partner’s insomnia was random. But the recovery data kept showing a pattern: on nights we ate late, her resting heart rate stayed elevated well past midnight. It wasn’t just about what she ate—it was when. Once we started shifting dinners earlier—even by 45 minutes—her sleep improved dramatically. Not in theory. In practice.
Same thing happened with our teenage cousin, who was visiting for a few months. We were tracking his HRV and noticed that his baseline was consistently low. Turned out he was pulling late-night TikTok scroll marathons under the covers. Didn’t need a lecture—just showed him the graph. Let’s just say WHOOP said it louder than I could.
Wearables gave us a kind of emotional detachment from our habits, which—ironically—made it easier to change them. No guilt. Just, “Hey, here’s what your body’s doing. Wanna try nudging this a little?”
So the real benefit? Less about data, more about self-awareness with receipts.
Derek Pankaew, CEO & Founder, Listening.com
When we added activity trackers to our family regimen, the objective was straightforward: move more, sit less. We all established daily step targets and employed the information to hold ourselves accountable. But the epiphany that surprised me was how strong the link was between movement and snacking behavior, particularly among the children. On less active days, there were more calls for snacks, especially sweet ones.
From a dental standpoint, that was an issue. Increased snacking equals increased exposure to acid, which raises the level of cavities and tooth wear. We utilized that information to modify our habits. By scheduling walks after school and setting tech-free active time on weekends, we reduced grazing and saw an improvement in energy levels.
That connection between movement and diet had a direct impact on our family’s oral health. It also gave me a new way to discuss habits with patients. Wearables may not seem like dental tools, but they offer behavioral insights that directly affect what I see in the operatory.
Dr Stacey Laskis, Dentist, Parkview Dentistry
One piece of wearable tech that isn’t just a luxury item is the Apple watch. Their health monitoring features are really incredible. They can identify falls, monitor vital signs, and provide instant communication when people need it. One of our team members tells the story of her 99-year-old grandmother who recently got a pacemaker–because her Apple watch detected an irregular heart rhythm.
Wynter Johnson, CEO, Caily
While not technically a wearable, the Life Backup Plan app functions much like one—without the high price tag or need for specialized equipment. Most people already carry a smartphone, slipping it into a pocket, bra, waistband, or bag. In that sense, Life Backup Plan is a “pocket wearable,” offering safety, emergency detection, digital health and multi-faceted care benefits once reserved for costly devices—now accessible to anyone with a phone.
Our app helps personalize care through two interconnected systems: the sharable health profile and the Life Log. The sharable profile lets users store and update vital information—medical conditions, medications, allergies, dietary restrictions, and even blood type—and securely share it with emergency contacts and healthcare providers. Whether during an ER visit or routine appointment, the right data is immediately available, avoiding the risk of forgotten details, delayed treatment, and the cost of duplicated tests.
But the real magic happens in the Life Log, which empowers users to track what’s going on in their day-to-day lives—mood, sleep, food and drink, physical activity, medication use, symptoms, and environmental exposures. These inputs form a dynamic picture of a person’s lived experience and health habits. Over time, Life Backup Plan uses this data to help spot subtle trends and anomalies that might signal a brewing health issue—before it becomes an emergency. A child logging sleep disruption and stomachaches might help uncover a hidden food intolerance. A senior’s mood shifts paired with declining activity levels could signal depression or early cognitive decline. If a pattern is detected, Life Backup Plan suggests possible causes, and suggests a healthcare provider visit, sharing the Life Log data to make diagnosis faster and less expensive.
Emergency room visits cost, on average, at least 11 times more than waiting for a standard medical office visit. The passive digital triage feature analyzes current symptoms, life log data, and medical history and helps you make a more informed choice as to whether the problem can wait for your doctor’s regular office hours.
The most surprising insight? That smartphones—ubiquitous and underutilized—can act as preventive health devices, helping families stay connected, better understood, and better prepared. By lowering the barrier to personalized care, we’re redefining what digital health access looks like—for everyone.
Sandy Eulitt, CEO and Founder, Life Backup Plan by Galacxia, Inc.
Wearable devices enable users to monitor their health metrics in real time through measurements of heart rate and sleep patterns and physical activity. The collected data enabled people to discover patterns which led them to create personalized lifestyle changes that matched their individual requirements. The system provides customized alerts which help users maintain consistent healthy practices.
Family members who share their progress and goals with each other develop both accountability and motivation. Real-time monitoring capabilities have improved the overall health condition of users. The approach demonstrates how technology creates proactive personalized healthcare solutions.
The regular tracking process showed that daily practices such as hydration and bedtime routines produce major effects on total health status. Wearable data revealed unexpected relationships between stress levels and sleep quality. The obtained knowledge demonstrated that small changes lead to major wellness achievements in the long run.
Linda Chavez, Founder & CEO, Seniors Life Insurance Finder
I’ve used wearable technology—mainly fitness trackers and smartwatches—to personalise healthcare for my family by using real time data to promote healthier habits and early intervention. We each wear devices that track steps, heart rate, sleep patterns and activity levels which gave us a much clearer picture of our daily routines and where we could improve.
What surprised me most was how sleep quality varied so much between family members even when we thought we all had similar routines. One of us was getting less deep sleep which was affecting mood and energy levels. Before we used wearables we hadn’t noticed this subtle but significant difference. With this insight we made small changes—like reducing screen time before bed and using relaxation techniques—which led to better rest and overall wellbeing.
Wearable tech helped us move from vague health goals to specific, measurable actions, whether that meant walking more, improving sleep or managing stress. The personalisation aspect—seeing how each person’s body responds differently—has been brilliant. It’s allowed us to make targeted choices and check progress not just rely on annual checkups. For us it’s made health a daily, shared conversation not something we only think about when someone is unwell.
Sovic Chakrabarti, Director, Icy Tales
I’ve used wearable technology to personalize healthcare for my family by tracking key health metrics like heart rate, sleep patterns, and activity levels. For example, I set up my parents with fitness trackers that monitor their daily steps and sleep quality. This data has been useful in adjusting their exercise routines and bedtime habits. One surprising insight came when I noticed a drop in my father’s sleep quality, which led to a conversation about his increasing stress levels. We didn’t realize the impact stress was having on his sleep, and it prompted us to focus on mindfulness exercises. The trackers helped us identify trends we otherwise might have missed, allowing for more proactive health decisions. This experience taught me how powerful personalized, real-time data can be in managing health and preventing issues before they escalate.
Nikita Sherbina, Co-Founder & CEO, AIScreen