Gavin Wright

Date of Award

8-2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Pharmacy

First Advisor

Susanna Scott

Second Advisor

Mikaela Drake

Abstract

The market for wearable devices has seen significant growth in the last decade and is only expected to increase as the world enters a new age of health literacy known as digital health literacy. Digital health literacy, or eHealth literacy, is defined as “the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic sources and apply the knowledge gained to addressing or solving a health problem.” The issue with this new age is that most consumers have access, but lack the ability to apply the knowledge that they must improve their health. The goal of this study is to understand how college students understand and interpret their wearable technology data. To investigate this question, two focus groups with a total of 16 participants were used as the primary methodology for this research, providing a dynamic platform to explore the reasoning behind people’s interactions with their digital health. Using phronetic iterative analysis, we analyzed the data informed through the lens of digital health literacy. From the focus groups conducted, three themes emerged: the usage of wearable technology to understand their sleep patterns, compete with friends, and help individuals stay disciplined in their health. Many participants also stated that they struggled to understand some of the complex health metrics, such as HRV, causing them to ignore or not consider certain major health metrics due to the lack of knowledge. These findings matter because the use of digital technologies is only going to grow and expand. It is important to see how people use and understand this technology now so it can improve the health outcomes of the future.

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