DrDigitalHealth

DrDigitalHealth

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18/07/2024

I am so so happy to share that I’ve been PROMOTED to SENIOR LECTURER in Digital Economy & Society 🤩

To get this recognition from the Faculty and feels INCREDIBLE 🎉

And a wonderful entry point into sabbatical 🙏

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 22/03/2024

In light of yesterday’s US Department of Justice suing for anti-competitive practices 🎉 I thought I’d share my op-ed I wrote for .standard recently about the EU’s recent €1.8bn fine “Apple’s response to laws aimed at boosting competition between large and small tech firms is cynical” 📰

We are at a pivotal moment for digital market regulation in the EU and the UK. The European Commission’s upcoming probe into Apple’s DMA compliance and the Department of Justice’s landmark antitrust claim highlights Apple’s reluctance to act in the best interests of the consumer.

About the US Department of Justice Action

The US government believes that Apple’s excessive power is stifling smaller innovators and short-changing American consumers. We welcome this intervention, but happily millions of British consumers affected in the same way also have a way of achieving address. The claim we have filed in the UK competition tribunal is scheduled for January next year and aims to make Apple accountable for years of unfair market dominance and overcharging in this country.

Regarding the European Commission probe

The approach that Apple has taken to Europe’s Digital Markets Act is disappointing and cynical, and the EU is right to take this action.

We can expect a similar approach from Apple when the UK’s Digital Markets legislation comes into law shortly. Apple cannot be trusted to prioritise consumer interests of its own volition, nor to promote open competition.

Thankfully, as consumers we have other tools at our disposal to protect our rights. This includes litigation, such as the UK legal action I am leading, which aims to hold Apple to account and seek financial redress for historic harms to consumers.

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 11/03/2024

🚨 I spoke to Magazine about the rising use of continuous blood glucose monitoring in consumer health tech ⌚️ Is it necessary if we aren’t diabetic and does it actually improve our health? 🚨

⌚️ How has blood glucose monitoring become a status symbol? ⌚️

⌚️ Thank you for writing up my research reflections ⌚️

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 03/10/2023

✨ My Book Launch photos have landed ✨

One of the absolute best nights of my life 💜 so grateful to everyone who come, dear family, friends, colleagues and new contacts who have come into my professional life now 💜 It was everything I could have hoped for and more. Thank you again 🙏

More piccies to come!!!

Thank you to & for supporting the event 🎉 what a night!!!!


31/08/2023

☀️WHAT A SUMMER☀️

This summer was everything I needed after a very intense but super exciting academic year.

I SWITCHED OFF 🙏

It’s been an incredible break and we’ve covered some serious ground at friends weddings in the Malvern Hills & Wales, visited fam and friends in Wi******er, Bristol and Dorset, hit some festivals and had a proper holiday in Devon and Marseille - which was the absolute highlight ✨

Now ready for routine and the rhythm of home life, craving the everyday and leaning towards the new academic year. My schedule is looking quite different with my new Faculty role as which feels strange and exciting.

This week I’m back at my desk writing some new publications, meeting with the lawyers on developments with the case (more soon Woop), and prepping teaching. I’m very very happy to be here - though the more regular exercise and early starts have been a STRUGGLE.

Hope summer has provided some respite and relief dear friends 💜

04/08/2023

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Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 29/05/2023

SHE IS BORN 🤩 🤩🤩

Holding her in my hands feels so incredibly poignant and emotional. This body of work has been a companion and friend, a journey through analysis, both in the field of digital health and more widely our societal ideals of self and the body and how we relate to technology, always traversing through a challenge of self exasperation and discipline, a struggle and a simultaneous privilege to complete.

I’m so proud she is here 🙏

You can buy her via my bio link & via all the usual outlets.

The Digital Health Self’ is the culmination of 17 years of ideas, research and exploration into how our bodies interact with technology, with its’ seeds first developing during my undergrad degree, through my masters, to my PhD and beyond.

“This is a detailed analysis of how understanding of health management past, present and future has transformed in the digital age.

Since the mid-20th century, we have witnessed ‘healthy’ lifestyles being pushed as part of health promotion strategies, both via the state, and through health tracking tools, and narratives of wellness online. This marks a seismic shift from a public welfare state responsibility for health towards individualised practices of digital self-care. Today health has become representative of ‘lifestyle correction' which is performed on social media.

Putting the spotlight on neoliberalism and digital technology as pervasive tools that dictate wellness as a moral obligation, Rachael Kent critically analyses how users navigate relationships between self-tracking technologies, social media, and everyday health management”

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Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 12/05/2023

OUT TODAY "We all spend too much time online. But at what point does it become a problem?" I spoke to about 'tech addiction' and current debates about what this actually is and means for our everyday lives.

‘Addiction’ to technology, the internet, and social media refers to compulsions towards its use and its negative impact on well-being (American Psychiatric Association, 2018).

How might this impact us every day?

1. Distraction impacting concentration: when you're with friends the desire to check your notifications feels overwhelming and almost uncomfortable when you’re not able to.

2. Hyper self/peer surveillance: becoming increasingly fixated on watching others' lives online (influencer culture), or increasingly comparative about your own.

3. Decreased face-to-face physical interaction: replacing face-to-face catch-up with loved ones or even colleagues means that socializing and communicating in person might become more infrequent and unpracticed.

How does this happen?

Dopamine has a big part to play - it is a neurotransmitter that gets released in the brain when it’s expecting a reward. A flood of dopamine reinforces cravings for something enjoyable, whether it’s a tasty meal, a drug, or a funny TikTok video.

It’s important to understand how our brains respond to stimulating things like our phone’s notifications or social media. In many ways, the mechanism of dopamine release when scrolling on TikTok is similar to the dopamine release experienced with drugs and other addictive substances. However, more research is needed to investigate this further before tech addiction is classified clinically.

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 05/05/2023

IT’S BEEN A MINUTE!!!

Hello dear friends 💜 the last 5 weeks since term finished have been a mixture of a lush holiday in Italy eating all the food and seeing all the sights ⬆️⬆️

Two weeks off emails and social media which felt like an incredible reset 😁

Then returning back to some major and very fun projects that got put on hold during the teaching term… MORE SOON 🤩

I signed off the final proof of the book, she is finally out in a couple of weeks 🎉 I am in the midst of planning the launch for June, will be sharing deets on that when things are firmed up if anyone wants to come along. Gona be holding an event with some brilliant colleagues in the field, followed by a drinks reception at Kings ✨

I had a first outing to try on some wedding dresses - which was surreal - and I found a curveball strong contender which was exciting and confusing 😅

I’ve also been doing some major thinking on addressing the work/life balance. In the 3 weeks since I’ve been back after my leave I’ve felt very quickly burnt out again from over stacking my days. Always hard when you love your job and there’s so many exciting and nourishing things to explore. BUT I’m increasingly realising that I am far too ambitious about what I can achieve in a day, I don’t know if this is to do with my dyslexia/dyspraxia ( was talking on this recently), given that some things take longer than usual for me (reading and writing in particular) or whether - because current projects are very performative I need to factor in more downtime to rest and recover
🙏 all things to work on more so life feels more gentle 🙏

Wishing you all an absolutely gorgeous bank holiday filled with delicious food and company ✨

P.S PIC 2; spotted in Florence - do you agree??? Let me know below ⬇️

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 13/03/2023

I’m in this weeks magazine ✨

Speaking on the role of social media and ‘armchair detectives’ in the Nicola Bulley case 🙏

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on this important example of the help and hindrances of social media in investigating crimes 🙏

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 08/03/2023

A few weeks ago I spoke to French Media company after one of their journalists quit social media for a month. They asked me to analyse their reflections on their experience and what they had discovered… It was SUPER interesting conversation 🙏

Thank you for the conversation and analysis.

Happy reading 🙏

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 13/12/2022

I spoke to Magazine about the new Lensa AI trend and its' potential impacts on body positivity on social media...
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"our social media and filtering apps have become an everyday extension of our lives and ourselves. Transforming ourselves using AI apps is not new, however, perhaps because Lensa offers many different images, we get to see ourselves in a multitude of characters which not only airbrush our faces, but transport us to a different time in history, or fantasy world. Is it the perfect form of play and escapism, or another form of attention-seeking?”
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“The tipping point exists if and when we become fixated upon these images of ourselves as more desirable or ‘Instagrammable’. Sharing an image for fun is not unhealthy. Only sharing images of ourselves heavily filtered with AI and attempting to pass it off as reality is unhealthy and damaging for our own sense of self-worth and esteem, as well as detrimentally impacting others’ mental health online as they might compare themselves to your insta-worthy image. When filtering gets normalised as how we view ourselves and others in our everyday lives, this is when these apps become unhealthy.”
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Thank you for the inclusion 🙏
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Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 08/12/2022

This December is the first in two years which might resemble something of pre-covid Christmas. This means more Christmas parties with work and friends. More catching up with friends and family. More life, more connection, and inevitably as a by-product more social media showcasing of our lives. As much as it is lovely to have insight into our loved ones, colleagues, and acquaintances festivities, this also leads to increased lifestyle comparisons as someone else’s Christmas party, roast dinner, or tree might look more desirable and Insta-worthy than ours.

This time of year can be particularly challenging for those who spend a portion of our lives either burnt out from scrolling or feeling pressure to perform an Insta-grammable life! So here are my top tips from stopping social media burnout this Christmas, to give you the break you need and deserve.
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Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 07/10/2022

Recently I’ve been writing about how influencer culture has shifted in recent years to show more ‘realistic’ and ‘authentic’ content. Whilst this has done wonders for body positivity and anti-diet culture movements, there were still some problems with turning to influencers for health, fitness and lifestyle guidance 🧐

Based on this research I’ve put together a list of key positives and perils of influencer cultures 📲











24/08/2022

I am very excited to announce my masterclass with .fit_  🙏

In this masterclass, I'll provide you with strategies and tips for managing digital burnout and tech addiction in everyday life to enable a healthier relationship with technology and improve mental and physical health now and for the future in both your professional and personal lives.

Some things we will cover:

- Toxic Productivity-"always on/always available" culture
- The Perils of Social Media & Influencer Culture
- Post-Lockdown Fatigue
- What is technology addiction and how does it occur?
- How to Create Digital Boundaries

Sign up at moove.fit/digital-wellbeing to be notified when the masterclass goes live.

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 22/08/2022

How is your personal data sold on? 💸
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‘We are the product’, is a phrase increasingly understood as explaining how when we use apps (particularly, if they are free), our personal data is often sold on and effectively ‘pays’ for our use.
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We, as users, do not see the financial benefit of our data being sold, those who own the apps we use get that juicy financial reward.
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Increasingly our personal data and our digital traces, including our demographic information, health data, scrolling, and digital behaviours across all our devices, apps, and websites we use every day is now aggregated and monetized by tech companies, healthcare providers and even the state!
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Why? A lot is for targeted advertising, recommendation algorithms, personalised marketing, public health group profiling… as well as all the techy stuff going on behind the scenes to keep our attention attached to our apps.
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Another, potentially more alarming reason is to make inferences about our health status, this is called ‘digital phenotyping’ and refers to the aggregation of all our data, including non-health related data to make inferences about our wellbeing and health status every day.





Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 21/08/2022

How is your personal data sold on? 💸
💰
‘We are the product’, is a phrase increasingly understood as explaining how when we use apps (particularly, if they are free), our personal data is often sold on and effectively ‘pays’ for our use.
💰
We, as users, do not see the financial benefit of our data being sold, those who own the apps we use get that juicy financial reward.
💰
Increasingly our personal data and our digital traces, including our demographic information, health data, scrolling, and digital behaviours across all our devices, apps, and websites we use every day is now aggregated and monetized by tech companies, healthcare providers and even the state!
💰
Why? A lot is for targeted advertising, recommendation algorithms, personalised marketing, public health group profiling… as well as all the techy stuff going on behind the scenes to keep our attention attached to our apps.
💰
Another, potentially more alarming reason is to make inferences about our health status, this is called ‘digital phenotyping’ and refers to the aggregation of all our data, including non-health related data to make inferences about our wellbeing and health status every day.





Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 20/08/2022

How is your personal data sold on?

‘We are the product’, is a phrase increasingly understood as explaining how when we use apps (particularly, if they are free), our personal data is often sold on and effectively ‘pays’ for our use. We, as users, do not see the financial benefit of our data being sold, those who own the apps we use get that juicy financial reward.

Increasingly our personal data and our digital traces, including our demographic information, health data, scrolling, and digital behaviours across all our devices, apps, and websites we use every day is now aggregated and monetized by tech companies, healthcare providers and even the state!

Why? A lot is for targeted advertising, recommendation algorithms, personalised marketing, public health group profiling… as well as all the techy stuff going on behind the scenes to keep our attention attached to our apps. Another, potentially more alarming reason is to make inferences about our health status, this is called ‘digital phenotyping’ and refers to the aggregation of all our data, including non-health related data to make inferences about our wellbeing and health status every day.

13/08/2022

35 🎂 what a year! what a birthday!

On a personal level the last 12 months have been very special, reconnecting with old friends and spending more face time with nearest and dearest. + some amazing work projects. I’m so grateful for all the wonderful people in my life, and all the opportunities I’ve been given.

Thank you so much to all the amazing birthday love I’ve received today you special humans 🙏

Whilst the world burns, and the tories f**k up the UK I’m escaping to nonsense, and have the best bloody birthday ever 💜 BIG LOVE 💜

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 09/08/2022

How To Use Social Media & Not Get ‘FOMO’ 👀

#1. Constructed authenticity
#2. Avoid click-bait friendships
#3. Stop the anticipation economy






28/07/2022

My loves 💜 what a beaut beachy day 💜

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 12/07/2022

Woah 🤩 THANK YOU for the double page spread on the perils of health tracking 📲 Honoured to be your expert on this important subject 🙏

Key takeaway: read my last post

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 11/07/2022

Your friendly reminder during the UK heatwave to listen to your body, over your fitness tracker 📲 🏃🏼‍♀️

Especially important not to overexercise, or push yourself too hard during the heat 🔥

Fitness Trackers are incredibly useful tools to monitor and develop our exercise behaviours.

However, over the 10 years I’ve been researching fitness trackers, I’ve seen a dramatic rise in the addictive relationships we have with them.
 
To avoid the pitfalls of these apps, is to ensure you follow human instinct over the app nudging you to behave in a certain way. If your running app is telling you its “time to go for a run today”, or that “your fitness community have run x miles so far this week”, think about whether you actually feel physically or mentally up for a run, or a workout? Think, if you do, is it the app guilting you in to going for a run, or do you want that movement for your body today? 
 
Why, is this important? Well, remember these apps cannot track and quantify the entirety of our human condition. For example, they may not know if you are underslept, stressed, experiencing mental health challenges, haven’t eaten a balanced meal today, or have an injury.

Remember to take agency and control with these tools that have become an extension of our bodies, and listen to what your body tells you, rather than just what the device does!  
 
Not listening to your body, and only following the guidance of a fitness tracker can be dangerous to your health, both mentally and physically! 

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 05/07/2022

Are You An Internet Addict? 👀 Thank you for the double pager 🙏

Key takeaway: “Addiction to technology and the internet refers to compulsions towards its use and it’s’ negative impacts on wellbeing.

Those of use who don’t identify as ‘addicts’ may demonstrate compulsive online behaviour and express compulsive desires towards digital devices.

Online addiction is a behavioural addiction, and on the troublesome end of the scale can manifest in a way that’s similar to dependancies such as gambling, drug or alcohol addiction. Symptoms include a preoccupation with going online, using the internet to regulate emotions, and feeling psychological and physical discomfort when screen time is reduced”

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 01/07/2022

KENT v. APPLE 📱 All strike out applications have been REJECTED by the court 🎉 now go to full trial 🎉 Thank you .independent .standard & alllll the press coverage today 🙏

'I applaud the Competition Appeal Tribunal for this clear and well-thought-out decision.

'A claim of this magnitude is always going to be heavily defended. The anti-competitive practices that we are alleging against Apple go to the heart of Apple’s business strategy, and with its almost unlimited resources, it will always make this a challenging fight.

'We look forward now to progressing the case on behalf of consumers and businesses.

'We believe we have a convincing and well-founded argument that Apple’s practices are detrimental to those in the class, and the evidence will support it.'

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 12/05/2022

✨Everyone Has Mental Health ✨

Conversations around mental health often situates those who ‘suffer’ from mental health illness, and those who do not.

This distinction and binary create a sense of blame, guilt and shame from those who identify as having mental health issues, and misunderstanding and detachment from those who don’t.

This is a huge misconception.

Everyone to varying degrees suffers from challenges and opportunities related to mental health, that is what makes us human. Without mental health we are robots.

Taking depression as an example, the World Health Organisation states:
• Depression is a common mental disorder. Globally, it is estimated that 5.0% of adults suffer from depression (1).
• Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.
• Most of us will experience depression at some stage in our lifetime.

Let’s stop polarising those with ‘issues’ and those ‘without’ and remember we all need to be aware of our mental health, good days and bad, and what makes life mentally strenuous. Let’s do away with seeing mental health as separate or different from physical health.

When we ask how someone is – lets include physical AND mental health in that conversation. They are no different.

05/05/2022

KENT v. APPLE IS CERTIFIED 🎉 will now be held accountable and compensation will be sought for 20million UK consumers🔥 I am so proud to represent every single one of you 🔥

This is also the first time CERTIFICATION has happened during a Collective Proceedings Order Hearing application the Competition Appeal Tribunal - we are on to trial🔥

Also incredibly proud to be the first female class rep in a collective action in the UK ✨
The tide is shifting slowly against the tech monopolists 🔥

My partner caught this snap as i reflected on what’s just happened - over prosecco of course 🤩

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 29/04/2022

I’m overdue a creepy selfie with a new book chapter ✨ FROM THE UK WELFARE STATE TO DIGITAL SELF-CARE: 1948-2021 Historical Context of Tracking Public Health & Quantifying Bodies ✨

This chapter is basically the foundation of alllllllll my research from undergrad/masters/phd - understanding how and why digital self care and health management is such a persuasive public health and self-responsibalising strategy for every day digital life now!

Of course neoliberalism & Thatcher is in there, the birth of the NHS, food rationing post war, birth of nutritional science, the rise of wellness & influencer cultures, Covid 19 digital health & contact tracing.

A privilege and frankly terrifying to give my take on a time in history. I think it’s really important tho (obvs) to historically contextualise where we are at todays as members of a digital society driven to self manage health care & increasingly adopt digital platforms to do so!

It’s behind a paywall - as always - if you’re interested drop me a DM and I will share for freeeeeee 📖

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 24/03/2022

Been waiting for the emotional & professional band-with to share my thoughts on this. Last weekend marked 12 years without our incredible mum & given what’s happened to the world recently as well as the collective trauma we’ve all experienced the past two years, I am increasingly PASSIONATE about normalising our conversations with grief.
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Here’s a start of a conversation for how my experience of grief had been, and how we can perhaps start to acknowledge its impact in a non-morbid way 💜

Photos from DrDigitalHealth's post 15/03/2022

This is awesome ✨ thank you for publishing some of my “How to Spring Clean Your Scroll” in this Aprils issue 🙏
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