Domestic Health Index - Incite at Columbia University

Completed Project

Domestic Health Index

  • Funding Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • Timeframe 2017–2019
  • Funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • Project Team Peter Bearman Adam Reich Kathryn Neckerman

The proliferation of wearable technology presents an unprecedented opportunity both to measure population health in new ways and to make it more culturally salient.

We envisioned a “domestic health index,” or DHI, as both a promotional tool and as a valuable dataset in its own right. Between 2017 and 2019, we consulted experts and learned more about the rapidly evolving digital health space.

As part of this exploration, we conducted a scan of the use of wearable devices and mHealth (mobile health) apps in research, with a focus on work that would inform our planning for a DHI. Next, we engaged a series of issues that bear more specifically on the design of a DHI, including what health indicators to include, how participants might be recruited and retained, and—ultimately—how this initiative might be sustained.

In January 2019, we published a draft of the Domestic Health Index.

Related Works

  • open website

    Peter Bearman, Adam Reich, Kathryn Neckerman, "How Wearable Devices Can Promote the Culture of Health", Incite Institute, January 1, 2019

  • open website

    Peter Bearman, Adam Reich, Kathryn Neckerman, "Domestic Health Index", Incite Institute at Columbia University, January 1, 2019

More Projects

  • go to Workers' Health on the Line
    Workers' Health on the Line
    Evaluating the effects of digital tools for enhancing workers’ collective efficacy and well-being. Funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • go to Seeds of Diaspora
    Seeds of Diaspora
    Approaching cultural landscapes and their evolution by examining non-native plants in New York City.
  • go to All in Favor
    All in Favor
    All in Favor is a first-of-its-kind research project capturing the voices and oral histories of foundation trustees across the country. At a moment when philanthropy faces growing political scrutiny, All in Favor opens a door into this world and invites trustees to reflect on the social and political contexts of their service. Funded by the Ford Foundation
  • go to The Breakdown of Arctic Carbon
    The Breakdown of Arctic Carbon
    Creating new knowledge and provide critical insights into the ecology of the Arctic and the massive amount of carbon stored there. Part of the Breakdown/ (Re)generation Project