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Apple has taken another step to further push its support for the research field. In its new update for the Apple Research app, users should now be able to share family health history with studies and invite a friend to a study.
The app allows users to find, enroll, and participate in Apple research studies using their devices like iPhones. Some details eligible participants can share include those from their Health app, including health records, body measurements, vitals, and reproductive health information such as menstrual cycle length and related symptoms.
Those details that the app used to request used to be limited to the user of the device. With today’s update, however, studies could also ask users to provide their family health data if possible. This is all possible with the change introduced in iOS 16, which started allowing users to share their health data in the Apple Health app with family and friends.
Aside from this new capability, the update also introduces a new option to invite a friend to a study. This, of course, is good news for groups conducting the studies included in the Apple Research app, as it means more participants to share their data.
Currently, users have three study options in the app:
Apple Women’s Health Study. Conducted in partnership with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and National Institue of Health Sciences to help advance the understanding of menstrual cycles and health conditions such as infertility, osteoporosis, and menopause.
Apple Heart and Movement Study. Conducted in partnership with the American Heart Association and Bringham and Women’s Hospital to help advance discovery in heart science and to help us learn how activity and your habits can contribute to a healthier heart.
Apple Hearing Study. Conducted in partnership with the University of Michigan to help advance the understanding of how sound exposure levels over time can impact your hearing, stress levels, and cardiac health.
Despite the new options added to the app, Apple continues to note that it values users’ privacy and that they can choose which data to share with a specific study, review and manage data collected, and stop sharing data with any study at any time.
