Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions unveiled a digital health assessment app that is provided through insurance companies and designed for users to have better success in improving their health. Called My Health Discovery, it helps to identify the right questions to ask users in order to have more realistic and accurate goals for improving one’s lifestyle.

There are three things that make this a unique product, according to Tyler Steben, the project leader. First, My Health Discovery uses behavioral psychology to re-imagine the user experience, and moves away from other assessment applications that are more transactional. Second, it aims to translate [health] awareness into action through the inclusion of tailored action steps. And third, it includes a relatively brief questionnaire that makes it more doable for users to finish. However, the questions have been intensified based on the results of a scientific study the J&J team conducted to generate more predictive results.

My Health Discovery uses behavioral psychology to re-imagine the user experience.At the end of the survey, users are presented with useful information, rather than a grade, which [grade] can prompt users to provide skewed information to get a better score.

“We pay very close attention to how we communicate to the user after they finish the questionnaire,” Steben said. “We won’t say, ‘You get a letter grade of B,’ or ‘You get a 72,’ but have very information-rich [results], using our proprietary tailoring technology, to have visualizations on how the user is doing compared to guidelines.”

Following an assessment in the app, there are 250 potential action items available, but a user is given 10 so that it’s manageable, and it’s provided as a to-do list. This, according to Steben, should give users a good base before they dive into some of the other digital health coaching products Johnson & Johnson is providing.

Dr. Rich Bedrosian, Director of Behavioral Health at Johnson & Johnson Health & Wellness Solutions, added that most people know where they need to improve when it comes to their health and lifestyle. But this product is aimed more at identifying what holds us back from actually taking action.

[Via: MedCityNews]