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  Today in Health IT, we're discussing 67 best fitness and wellness Christmas gifts for the most active people you know. I'm Kate Gamble, Managing Editor at This Week Health, where we host a set of channels and events dedicated to transforming healthcare,

one connection at a time. I've spent the last 12 years interviewing healthcare leaders, and I'm excited to bring that knowledge into this community. As we wrap up this year, we want to take a moment to thank our incredible community for your unwavering support of our mission, healthcare transformation powered by community.

Together with intentionality and purpose, we are truly transforming healthcare, one connection at a time. This year has been extraordinary, and we're so grateful for the opportunity to grow alongside you as we continue to support health IT in an inclusive and collaborative way. With your help, we've achieved incredible milestones, including raising nearly 200, 000 for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, a testament to the power of collective action and generosity.

For our last segment of the year, we're discussing the 67 best products. Fitness and Wellness Christmas Gifts for the Most Active People You Know. the New York Post has curated a of 67 top rated fitness and wellness gifts, offering a variety of options for the active individuals in your life.

Some of the highlights are gifts like the Whoop 4. 0 Fitness Tracker, which provides comprehensive health data tracking including movement, sleep patterns, and recovery, appealing to tech savvy fitness enthusiasts. There are also recovery wellness items such as the Cold Pod Ice Bathtub and Infrared Sauna Blankets, which focus on muscle recovery and overall well being, catering to those who prioritize wellness.

And finally, high quality apparel and equipment. Brands like Lululemon offer durable and stylish workout gear, while equipment like the Bowflex T9 treadmill supports various fitness routines. Sarah, you know this, that I have prided myself Foolishly, I'm being an outlier when it comes to wearables, but I am very intrigued by the Whoop Tracker.

It pairs with an app to determine baseline metrics, tracks movements, sleep patterns, recovery, and as I get a little closer to 50, I think it's a good idea to perhaps have a better handle on those things. But what about you? What fitness related gifts are on your list? I'm waiting for the moment when you have a wearable.

And I don't even, it could be a ring, it could be a watch, it could be any kind of a tracker. I remember back in the day we had those tiny little what they like, pedometers that would track your 10, 000 steps. They were hilarious. You could actually shake them and it would think you were walking. So the advancement in the technology today is pretty fascinating to me.

All of these things are in my universe now. I've had Apple Watch for five or more years. I use it, Very specifically, mostly just to track the basics of movement, exercise, standing up, etc. The recovery and wellness tools though, Kate, they are tremendous. I do not want an ice pod for the record. Let's not put that under my tree.

However, things like these sauna blankets, the massage guns, like for, post workout, et cetera. And the different ways that you can effectively stretch even further or work on your stretching routines. Those are huge as you get older. And it's only been the last few years that having a post workout routine for recovery has become a focus of my workouts as well, because Guess what?

I did hit that 50 year old mark this year, and it takes longer to feel better after you're doing all the right things that you are supposed to as an enthusiast of sports and movement. So those are huge. And then most of my costumes day to day are Lululemon, and we have a bunch of Peloton equipment in our house.

The thing is with your wearable, and I'd say this to our listeners as well, Why are you wearing it? Why are you getting it? Is it because you want to be healthy or is it because you want to track certain aspects of your fitness? It's not going to tell you anything you don't know in terms of you need to get up, you need to go work out, you need to go do these things.

It becomes a little bit of an accountability partner, but as I think about the incentive for you, Kate, and others to engage with tech savvy fitness and wellness gifts, For you in 25, what's a key element of your fitness that these things can help you be a better version of you? Yeah, that's a really good point.

You have to look at how this is going to help you. One kind of funny story is that my son has an Apple watch and he was washing his hands and he said, Oh, my watch just said, good job washing your hands. And I thought that was funny. I said, that's good. I'm glad that it's tracking that. For me, getting closer to 50 being a woman, you really have to be so careful of everything, but even things like, heart rate, all of that is so important. So I think anything that can help you keep better track of that is really important.

But what we really need to think about too is why this matters for leaders, for CIOs and others. And one of the things that comes up for me is employee wellness programs and incorporating fitness and wellness into corporate wellness initiatives. Can enhance employee health and potentially reduce healthcare costs and improve productivity, but also you're getting healthier people.

And, that's what's most important. And then also looking at data integration opportunities. So devices like the Whoop 4. 0 generate valuable health data that with proper integration and privacy measures can inform broader health analytics and personalized wellness programs. They can, and consider the conversation we had in a previous episode about doctors being concerned that wearables were creating too much of a sensitivity towards certain wellness aspects and programs.

So again, it goes into the intent by which you're wearing it, what kind of information it's tracking and what you're doing with that information so that it is incorporated in a way that is thoughtful and not meant to be a burden for you or for your physician. As an example, I've worked for healthcare systems where We were rewarded for steps, for wellness, for different programs.

The premiums on your insurance for these self insured programs was lower if you had certain metrics that you met through these programs. So those were always wins as well. And when you really do consider the impact of wearable technology on personal health management, you've got empowerment through data.

Because you really can start to think about patterns, goals. And informed decisions about your lifestyle. It encourages preventative care to your point. It can improve accountability because the social and the gamification element, I love leaderboards and group challenges. Those can be fun. I follow some of my friends on our workouts on Apple.

Then you, those moments where you're like, so and so works out in the morning, and then I work out at night and you get the little reminder that somebody did that. To me, the integration with healthcare providers is important. It can enable an individual to share health data with a physician, allowing for the personalized care.

Again, having that thoughtful conversation with your PCP about why you're doing it. How is my data being transmitted and used? And is it actually informing my. Healthcare and my wellness plan, post my annual visit, my labs, et cetera. All those pieces are important to be having in a discussion with your PCP.

Talk to me more though, Kate, about some of the corporate adoption of wellness tools. How are companies integrating these products into programs and what outcomes have been observed? So the first thing that comes to mind is Enhanced productivity, which we've seen in some other recent articles. But when you offer wellness programs, including fitness trackers and wellness stipends, you're going to see improved employee productivity and reduced absenteeism.

And then in terms of engagement, providing access to wearable tools like devices, meditation apps, or gym memberships, fosters a culture of care and increases morale and satisfaction. And that's a big one, I would say, the gym membership. That's a great motivator. And when you talk about that, you're going to see cost savings, lower healthcare costs for organizations with wellness initiatives.

Reducing the prevalence of chronic conditions and then data driven wellness programs. So some organizations use aggregated anonymous health data from wearables to identify trends and design more effective wellness initiatives. But again, anytime you're talking about data, you have to have those cybersecurity hygiene steps in place, which comes up a lot, but it has to, because it's so important.

And then in terms of the future trends. in fitness and wellness products. What are some of the emerging technologies and products that could shape the future of personal and corporate wellness? So you and I have been covering lots of AI this year. It's a bit of everywhere. If we continue to follow, which we will, The AI powered health insights, like wearables are more advanced.

You can leverage AI to analyze health trends and provide personalized recommendations for diet, exercise, and stress management. I'm waiting for that day. And there's some technologies out there when I can stand on a biometric scale that tells me you need this much water, this much exercise, and maybe throw in some bananas today.

As an example, like things that you know, but it's always great to have the reinforcement of the ways that you're taking care of yourself. And as future devices mature, they're going to have sophisticated sensors capable of tracking that the hydration level, the blood pressure, your glucose, like literally the advanced biometrics that can come with the health insights are something I'm very much looking forward to.

You and I talk about mental health, the newer products that focus on mental wellness and incorporate features like. Mindfulness reminders, mood tracking, guided meditation programs. Truly we think about the sugar spike sometimes that we get over certain foods. I already know at 1 PM, I have low energy in the day in general, and to go and be able to go for a walk and go for some kind of a reset with either an app or a reminder for mental health and wellness, you're getting your body moving, but you're also giving your mind a chance to recharge.

Those are going to be important. Corporate wellness ecosystems. You also start to find communities and within your own organization. So if you've got wellness platforms that combine wearables and apps and in person programs, not only do you have a comprehensive health management solution, you're also creating community.

And it's more fun to go work out with somebody else who also likes to work out the way that you do, because. It takes me a good 10 minutes, 15 minutes at the end of a day to convince myself to go work out when I have a home gym. And yet I already know that once I get to working out, I'm going to do it.

That 15 minutes of like self, like back and forth, if you and I were like, Hey, let's go work out after work, like Tuesdays and Thursdays, that's our day. It's pretty powerful because you have an accountability partner, which makes it a lot more fun. And of course the sustainability in the products we've, we consider energy efficiency, environmentally friendly materials, and eco conscious wellness products.

We're basically covering all of the bases that are important for us as healthcare technologists, providers, and really that community of overall wellness. It brings a whole new conversation into the mix that can lead to greater innovation and greater capabilities. I like what you said about accountability and I know that you're a Peloton person, but having something like, the leaderboards and making it competitive, that is a great way to drive people.

You drive those competitive juices and that's a fantastic motivator. So I like that. Do you need an Apple watch so that you and I can follow each other like Holly and I do? I can be like, Kate, you've only burned 233 extra calories today. What's your plan? And you can either be like, I'm not following you anymore.

So discussing these perspectives can highlight how the intersection of technology and health is transforming personal habits and workplace culture, offering exciting opportunities for innovation in preventative care. and overall wellness. Don't forget to share this podcast with a friend or colleague.

Use it as a foundation for daily or weekly discussions on the topics that are relevant to you and the industry. They can subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Sarah, thank you, as always, for joining. Happy holidays, 📍 happy new year, and here's to an amazing 25 ahead together. Yes, absolutely. Thank you for listening, that's all for now.