Pace, Don’t Push: Living with Long Covid
For people with energy-limiting conditions such as Long Covid, overexertion can lead to days of
exhaustion. MindfulPacer, a smartwatch app developed at the Department of Informatics UZH, helps users manage their energy through biometric reminders and self-reflection.
Text: André Meyer
I magine waking up with a bit more energy than usual. You feel motivated to finally tick one or two things off your to-do list. So, you do the laundry, cook a meal, take a short walk or catch up with a friend on the phone. At the time, it all feels manageable. Three days later, you can barely get out of bed. For the estimated 450,000 people in Switzerland living with an energy-limiting condition (ELC) such as Long Covid or ME/CFS, this cycle is called Post-Exertional Malaise and is a defining feature of daily life. Although ELC is an active area of research at UZH and elsewhere, there is still no effective cure or medication.
Linking biometrics and self-reflection
Individuals with ELCs must resort to activity pacing, the deliberate management of energy across the day to avoid exceeding personal limits and prevent so-called crashes. Pacing is often done without much thought, based on rough and subjective estimates, creating an extra burden for affected individuals. Furthermore, commercial smartwatches used to assist with activity pacing are often optimized to promote activity instead of encouraging mindful energy management. Together with domain experts and patients, the team, consisting of Dr. André Meyer, Isabelle Cuber, Tobias Hoch, Grigor Dochev and Prof. Thomas Fritz, studied how to design a smartwatch-based pacing app for people affected by ELCs. The result, Mindful-Pacer, available for iPhone and Android with accompanying, off-the-shelf smartwatches combines biometric data (i.e. heart rate and steps) with self-reflection on specific activities, symptoms and subjective well-being. Users define personalized thresholds that trigger a brief smartwatch reminder to reflect on their current activity and its likely energy impact.
Promising early feedback
Early user feedback is promising, highlighting how the app raises awareness of which activities affect energy differently, such as unloading the dishwasher versus washing dishes by hand. Feedback also underlined the importance of personalization of functionality and data sources to better
support the individual expressions of the condition and of highlighting positive experiences and progress wherever possible. The MindfulPacer team is looking for volunteers and funding to hand the project over to the community and ensure its long-term maintenance.
Text: André Meyer, Source: OEC.Mag #25