A new Google Health app connects individuals to clinical studies, according to a Dec. 9 blog post.
Five details:
1. Android phone users can download the Google Health Studies app and participate in health studies by answering questions and contributing data. The app's platform connects researchers to a more diverse population.
2. The app's first study focuses on respiratory illness. For the first study, Google Health partnered with Boston-based Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital to better understand influenza, COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.
3. The respiratory health study will be open to all adults in the U.S. and focus on risk factors for respiratory illnesses. The study also examines the link between mobility and the spread of COVID-19.
4. All information entered into the app is encrypted, and data is securely stored. The data will only be used in explicitly consented research studies and won't be sold, shared with advertisers or be used to show ads to participants.
5. Participants have control over their personal information and can see what data is contributed when and why it's shared.