Technology-based health tools like fitness trackers, smartwatches, and mobile health apps have shown promise in helping people improve cardiovascular health. However, a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA), published in Circulation, highlights that people facing adverse social drivers of health often encounter barriers to accessing these tools. The statement calls for strategies to expand access and promote heart health for all.
Titled “The Role of Technology in Promoting Heart Healthy Behavior Change to Increase Equity in Optimal Cardiovascular Health,” the statement examines how mobile health technologies, including wearables, apps, telehealth, and remote coaching, can encourage healthier behaviours. It also identifies gaps in access, especially among people affected by factors such as poverty, limited healthcare access, housing instability, and psychosocial stress.
According to AHA’s 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, nearly 130 million U.S. adults have some form of cardiovascular disease (CVD) — the leading cause of death in the U.S. and worldwide. Risk factors such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure remain highly prevalent, particularly among populations experiencing adverse social conditions.
Achieving optimal heart health is challenging for everyone, but especially so for people from underserved communities. It’s essential to develop and tailor health technologies to meet the needs of those most at risk.
The statement focuses on digital solutions aligned with AHA’s Life’s Essential 8 measures for cardiovascular health, which include healthy eating, physical activity, weight management, avoiding tobacco, and quality sleep. However, research shows that people impacted by adverse social conditions often have lower cardiovascular health scores than their more advantaged peers.
Key areas where mobile technologies can influence health behaviours include:
- Physical Activity: Tools like fitness trackers and goal-setting apps can help increase activity levels, but are often less effective for people in lower-income or less-resourced communities — sometimes due to cost or environmental barriers like neighborhood safety.
- Diet: Apps to track food intake may support short-term improvements in diet and weight loss. However, sustained engagement is a challenge, particularly among those facing food insecurity.
- Tobacco Cessation: Digital interventions combined with nicotine replacement therapy show promise in helping people quit smoking. Programmes using gamification and personalised messaging have yielded higher success rates.
- Sleep: Wearable devices and sleep apps are widely used but may be less accurate in people with darker skin tones due to technology limitations. Environmental factors like noise or housing conditions can also interfere with sleep quality in underserved populations.
While digital health tools offer great potential, several barriers hinder their use in under-resourced communities. These include the cost of devices and app subscriptions, limited digital literacy, lack of internet access or reliable connectivity, privacy concerns and language and cultural relevance of content.
The statement emphasises that interventions with personalised, culturally tailored messaging are more likely to succeed. It also calls for more research focused on diverse populations to ensure that digital health solutions are effective, scalable, and equitable.
Digital technology has the power to support healthier lives but only if everyone has the opportunity to use it. Developing affordable, accessible, and culturally appropriate tools is essential to improving heart health for all.
Source: American Heart Association
Image Credit: iStock
References:
Powell-Wiley TM et al. (2025) Role of Technology in Promoting Heart Healthy Behavior Change to Increase Equity in Optimal Cardiovascular Health: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation
