Author Archives: Mark Feinholz

About Mark Feinholz

Digital Health Product Manager. Inspired by technology to help us live happier and healthier lives.

Getting to Growth

“When I let go of what I am, I become all that I might be” (Lao Tzu) In my last post I wrote about the idea that approaching the problem of preventable chronic disease starts with changing our mindset towards … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

From Prevention to Extraordinary

In my previous post I introduced the idea that health is a practice, not a destination – being healthy is what you do, not what state your body is currently in. I’d like to try to further develop this idea here … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Practice Health, Not Prevention

What is ‘health’? What does it mean to be healthy? If I’m not sick, am I healthy? As long as I’m not sick, does it matter? Health is a complex concept, it means different things depending on the context. Our … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Practice Health, Not Prevention

Staying Engaged: How To Use Streaks and Weekly Goals

Establishing new behaviors that eventually become habits that can lead to a new identity or sense of self can be hard. Two techniques that have worked to help me stay engaged as I work towards creating new habits are streaks and weekly … Continue reading

Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare lifestyle, Healthcare technology | 1 Comment

A Small But Significant Patient-Centered Example

Digital health solutions that facilitate patient engagement must put the patient in charge, not the physician. Outside of the clinic, where health happens, in the day-in, day-out lives of people, we have to let the patient take ownership of and … Continue reading

Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare lifestyle, Healthcare technology | Comments Off on A Small But Significant Patient-Centered Example

From Tiny Habits to Big Habits – My Five

On my journey to learning some of the neuroscience and behavior science research behind these things we call “habits”, I decided to put the theory to a test and see if I could turn what I considered to be a … Continue reading

Posted in habits | Comments Off on From Tiny Habits to Big Habits – My Five

Big Data or Tiny Habits?

To repeat the oft-quoted words of Aristotle: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” I believe that wearable activity tracking devices can be powerful habit transformation tools and I’m frustrated to see … Continue reading

Posted in Healthcare lifestyle, Healthcare technology | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Big Data or Tiny Habits?

Step To Give Results: Fun, Engaging, and Rewarding

The Step To Give experiment was fun, engaging, and for me personally it was surprisingly rewarding.  Big smile, very big. Nine of us paid $10 each and worked together as a team for 21 days to meet the team total step … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Step To Give: An Activity Tracker Engagement Experiment

In a couple previous posts  (here and here) I wrote about some ideas for how fitness trackers might leverage peer pressure and intrinsic rewards to keep people engaged with their shiny new wearable toy once the shiny new part wears … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Get Smart With the New Misfit Shine

“Don’t tell me there’s another wearable fitness tracker on the shelf” Guess what, there’s another wearable fitness tracker on the shelf at Apple. “I asked you not to tell me that.”

Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare lifestyle, Healthcare technology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Get Smart With the New Misfit Shine