Why is this important?

This 32 page report from the Global Wellness Institute and staff at the Mayo Clinic exposes the cautionary tale associated with the mis-use or inappropriate use of Smartphone and screen technology.  What is needed is the wise use of technology and this is what our challenge is in providing wellness advice and examples within working populations.  How exactly do we chart a wise path through this technology that is almost too good for our own good? Not an easy proposition.

Early research is beginning to uncover some of the “opportunity costs” of Smartphone and excessive use of screen technology. These costs include: the quantity and quality of our sleep, inactivity, obesity, physiological health, mental wellness, social relationships, loneliness, distraction, safety lapses and lost productivity. These represent the challenge of a spate of new health risk factors that are affecting our personal and collective health.

Another major challenge for us relates to using this new technology in creative ways to help bring effective wellness and well-being to the masses. Text messaging has the potential to cut through the communication noise and may well become the modality of choice for the future of proactive and highly personalized wellness interventions. An engagement engine if you will. It is very important that we get all the potential good we can out of this valuable technology.

What can you do with this resource?
Here’s what you could do with this resource/document:

• Scan the Report for its highlights and recommendations.
• Summarize these highlights for use in employee facing educational interventions.
• Use it as an opportunity to re-introduce the concept of moderation in all things.
• Save this resource under the heading of “Smartphone technology.”
• Note any major findings that can be used in your present or future programming strategy.
• Share with your staff and volunteers the highlights to get them thinking about how to raise some of these technology-use related issues.
• For example, the majority of employees in every workplace use smartphones according to surveys conducted by the Pew Information Center.  If people say they don’t have time for wellness just have them go into their Smartphone “Settings” and click on the “Battery” tab.  Scroll down and it will tell you how many hours you were on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or any other app in the last week.  6.8 hours on Facebook huh? You get the point.
• Use the “snipping tool” to lift the graphics and findings out of the report and put them into your own presentations. (Always remember to cite the source.)

In summary, this report raises some of the first health and well-being concerns associated with the excessive use of smartphones and screen technologies. It is appropriate that we introduce this issue to our organizations under the banner of wellness and well-being.  It is an excellent opportunity to emphasize the concept of moderation in all things – especially the things we enjoy!