Koichi Habit Tracker

Background

HBCAC’s goal through the Prevention Is The Cure Campaign is to inspire educational and actionable change to remediate and prevent further harm from toxic exposures, which can be harmful to the environment and lead to the onset of disease later in life. The good news is, the actions we can take to improve health trajectories can also positively impact our environment.

What

The app serves as a tool to help users develop healthy habits through building positive intentions, behavior, and attitudes. The priority goal is to help the user shift their mindset to a proactive one, where they can achieve a better awareness and understanding of their health in order to make positive behavioral changes that will improve their health trajectory and the environment.  

Why 

Environmental health is the study of the way in which our bodies interact with the world around us. We are exposed to a myriad of toxicants each day that affect our health trajectory, as these exposures in combination may lead to the development of diseases such as cancer or heart disease, as well as affect the environment. Many of the same chemicals cause disease or developmental delay in wildlife as well as contribute to pollution and the desecration of natural habitats such as the ocean’s reefs and forests. All actions from what we eat to what we use for shampoo or even using light at night can affect our health and our planet.

Technology is increasingly becoming a part of our lives, with approximately 88% of Americans owning smartphones. There are many tools out there in the form of mobile apps to help people find healthy alternatives, however environmental health is still not widely incorporated or even taught in schools. While we can’t reach everyone, we can find innovative solutions to bridging these gaps and creating behavior driven change in our community that will change the context of how society thinks about the relationship between health and the environment.

Design

The app primarily functions to motivate healthy behaviors through the use of keeping an avatar healthy. This avatar is Wabi the koi fish, based on the concept of Wabi Sabi, which is a Japanese word meaning to find the beauty within the imperfections of life, and peacefully accepting the natural cycle of growth and decay—a word asking people to love themselves as they are. In general, the word is used to describe a sense of beauty. As for the koi fish, they are widely associated with strength of character, perseverance, accomplishment, courage, as well as longevity due to their history. Colors and feel focus around this idea of the ecosystem in which the fish live; primarily bright greens, blues, browns. Using the environmental imagery creates a direct link with the world around us and subtly conveys the concept that we are not alone, we are fish in a pond together, all seeking to thrive. 

How

The app utilizes evidence-based practices to increase intent to modify behavioral change and increase understanding of environmental health concepts through: gamification, visual engagement, context association through reminders, and reward systems to help the user develop and maintain their habits.

Student Contributors

This app was conceptualized and realized by student leaders in environment and health.

Funding provided by the Environmental Protection Fund as administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Any opinions, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations or policy of Rochester Institute of Technology and its NYS Pollution Prevention Institute or the State.