The promises of hygiene data and digital solutions
The possibilities to collect and analyze data using modern technology offer completely new opportunities for customized care and individually adapted products or services. A number of mobile phone apps for managing menstruation have emerged, such as “Period Tracker” or “Periodical”, allowing users to track and predict cycles based on historic data and user averages.
Also when it comes to professional hygiene care, technology enables customized products and services.
In nursing homes, residents’ quality of life is improved if they can urinate and defecate more often on the toilet than in the pad, based on individual voiding patterns (when and how much they urinate). Risks associated with incontinence, like skin damage, are avoided and dignity is improved. The TENA Identifi solution combines sensor technology and a web-based user interface to help caregivers map voiding patterns, which can be highly individual, and develop personal continence care plans, with a customized product mix and toilet assistance schedule. These plans help professional healthcare workers do an even better job, increasing job satisfaction and often lowering costs.
Many people say they would actually turn down the possibility of knowing more about bacteria levels in daily life.
The benefits of customized solutions seem to outweigh concerns over privacy in relation to the gathering and sharing of personal data. A majority of respondents in the Hygiene Matters Survey said they would be willing to share different types of personal data to receive personalized services and products connected to their hygiene and health. However, results from the Hygiene Matters Survey also suggest that in some areas, increased access to hygiene data may not always be a good thing. More people think that solutions that give us more information on hygiene levels will actually make us more obsessed with hygiene (28%), than those who think they will help us worry less (20%). Particularly in markets with more developed hygiene standards, many people say they would actually turn down the possibility of knowing more about bacteria levels in daily life. These results point to the importance of carefully considering how data is processed and used. Without a clear understanding of the context, data risks being misinterpreted or leading to unwanted behavior, such as avoiding certain situations for fear of germs, rather than improving personal hand washing practices.
Hygiene Matters Survey 2016/17
A majority of respondents are willing to share personal data about hygiene:
Read more: Hygiene Matters Survey 2016/17.