Can wearable physical activity trackers or “wearables” be useful in outreach to low-income Latinos?

Consumer products that track and analyze physical activity, or lack thereof, show potential to improve health behavior. However, their high price, complex data visualizations, and hardware requirements present barriers to low-income Latinos who are disproportionately affected by obesity.

California Latinos have among the highest rates of obesity. This population could significantly benefit from “wearables” that help illustrate and internalize the connection between physical activity and improved health.

We tested the most popular activity tracker, the Fitbit, with Spanish-dominant community health workers in Fresno County, where half the population is Latino and one-third lives in poverty. Four promotoras were given Fitbit One’s in the box and asked to activate the device over 30-days. We interviewed them about their experience, if they used the web or mobile app and how useful they thought such a device could be to their clients.

Promotoras preferred seeing data on the device itself. The Fitbit One shows steps, calculates distance and calories, and represents progress as a growing flower. All attempted to open online accounts, but abandoned the web for the mobile app. All said the device motivated them to increase their activity and believed a wearable with literacy-appropriate data visualization would benefit and be adopted by their clients, but only if they received thorough training and ongoing support.

“Wearables”, such as the Fitbit, Nike Fuelband and Jawbone Up, have potential to be catalysts for behavior change among at-risk, low-income Latinos, but only if data visualizations are better matched to health literacy levels and culturally relevant.