Empowerment depends on creating autonomy and information-access, and this is no different in healthcare.

To empower both those in full health and those with more chronic conditions, technology can provide that information and deliver the means for self-control.

MyHealthAvatar, a European project, brought together 9 partners from 4 countries to empower everyday people to manage their own health through technology.

Starting in March 2013, the goal was to build a patient-friendly phone app that could not only store long-term and consistent personal health information, but allow the user to analyse, predict and personalise the advice and insights they gained back.

The MyHealthAvatar project has now delivered a mobile application. This app will be available for members of the public to download for free onto their phones or tablets and enjoy.

Designed to help you monitor your own health from your mobile phone throughout your entire lifetime, the app provides a handy place to store your medical information as well as tools allowing automatic collection of personal health data such as physical activity, calories consumed, heart rate and sleep quality.

Other tools allow analysis of personal health data, such as for pattern identification, plus information on a range of conditions and health-related games as part of the app community.

It can also be linked up to existing sensors on the market such as Fitbit and Withings.

Prof Feng Dong, the project’s coordinator from the University of Bedfordshire, states ‘The MyHealthAvatar project may be at an end, but the app is very much available and we encourage as many people as possible to sign up and let us know what they think. We’re very excited that our hard work will help enable people to live happier, healthier lives.’

Next on the horizon for the avatar technology is its use in supporting patients with cancer, as part of the iManageCancer project, of which ecancer is a member.

This project, now in its second year, is building a larger set of self-management apps of which the next generation MyHealthAvatar is an important part.

Patient empowerment technology may still be in the fledgling stages of its journey but it holds great promise, especially as older generations take increasing interest in technology.

MyHealthAvatar is one more step in this journey and will continue to benefit the lives of many.

Create a MyHealthAvatar account here

Watch the MyHealthAvatar promotional video

The MyHealthAvatar app is available through the Google Play store.