A Combined Fitbit & Mental Health App Solution for Singaporean Teachers

A report released in September 2021 found that the mental health of over 80 per cent of teachers had been negatively impacted by their work amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

After a challenging time for teachers that saw working hours increase and physical and mental health decline, leading B2B mental health and wellness platform MindFi undertook a first-of-its-kind study in Singapore in partnership with Fitbit (now part of Google) to investigate the impact that wellness technologies — including the MindFi app and Fitbit wearables — can have on a user's health.

The 10-week study integrated the MindFi app with Fitbit devices to track the progress and lifestyle changes of participants, including activity level, sleep and heart rate, against user-reported metrics and question responses such as mood and general wellness. The study showed the benefits of using Fitbit to track and understand lifestyle data, in conjunction with the MindFi mental health solution, to empower users to self-manage their overall health and wellbeing.

For more on how organizations are measuring wellbeing impact, explore our MindFi News coverage.

Study Design

Participating teachers' mental health and wellbeing were assessed using clinically validated questionnaires, including the WHO-5, before the study to set benchmarks and then compared to post-intervention reported outcomes. The users' responses and the data obtained from the MindFi app and Fitbit were analysed and interpreted by MindFi's research team, which includes resident psychologists.

Regular use of a mental wellness app solution combined with Fitbit wearable devices to track activity and sleep can have a positive impact on users' physical and mental health, according to this pilot study involving Singapore teachers.

Results

Teachers showed signs of anxiety and stress before the school term. Approaching a new school term, 61% of participants reported suffering from high levels of emotional exhaustion, while 53% were experiencing moderate to high stress levels.

The combined MindFi and Fitbit solution led to an improvement in overall wellbeing. Close to two-thirds (60%) of teachers who used the integrated MindFi and Fitbit solution regularly saw significant improvement in their overall wellbeing, while 42% improved their physical wellbeing over the course of the study. 54% reported better sleep quality and 45% showed an improvement in their resting heart rate.

Regular use had a positive impact on mental health. 58% of participants who used the integrated MindFi and Fitbit solution reported a decrease in depressive symptoms, with an average reduction of 26% in assessment scores.

The study reported reduced burnout by enabling teachers to improve their coping abilities. 57% of the teachers who took part saw an improvement in their ability to cope with their workload, enabling them to be more productive at work and at home.

Teachers recommend wellness technologies to their colleagues. 74% of teachers agreed that using a mental health app helped them manage their mental wellbeing, and 66% reported that their Fitbit device had the same impact. Having benefited from the intervention, 68% of teachers said they would recommend the combined MindFi and Fitbit solution to colleagues.

Remarks

"There is no health without mental health. The exciting results of our pilot study show that physical and mental health are closely related. Specifically, it shows that the future of mental health is to integrate it into our daily lifestyles via devices such as wearables. As strong advocates of mental health in the workplace, we believe that this pilot study emphasises the change that business leaders can make in their human resources policies. We are excited to work with Fitbit as a partner to champion a holistic vision of wellbeing in the workplace, in order to help employees get healthier, be more productive and happier in their careers and lives."

— Bjorn Lee, Founder & CEO, MindFi

"We are very encouraged with the results from this pilot study with MindFi in Singapore. With the increase in stress and burnout levels in the last two years, these results are further proof of the great role wearable technology and wellness solutions can play in driving positive behaviour change in populations. We look forward to working together with MindFi in extending this partnership across Singapore and APAC."

— Steve Morley, Director of Fitbit Health Solutions, International and APAC