Daynamica can be used to capture individual daily time use and well-being data in a wide variety of settings. This page provides some examples of how our clients have been using our services.
Health
Measuring logistic toxicity in cancer treatment
Logistic toxicity is rarely considered in cancer care delivery, resulting in a bias toward care options that place a
high burden on patients and families.
Daynamica is currently partnering with cancer researchers and care providers to create a product that can accurately measure multiple aspects of logistic toxicity—the patient time, financial, and emotional costs associated with the day-to-day logistics of cancer care activities and trips. This project will make a necessary first step for cancer care providers and hospital administrators to create interventions that reduce logistic toxicity in cancer care.
Understanding COVID-19 exposure, stress, and behavior in front-line health-care workers
During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care workers have been asked to shoulder a tremendous burden. Little is known about how workplace and community exposure levels to COVID-19 have impacted health-care workers’ behaviors and well-being both during work hours and in their non-work time.
Daynamica was used to collect data on daily activities of health care workers over two distinct one-month periods. These data are being used to estimate in- and out-of-work exposure indices for health care workers and correlate these with self-reported measures of stress and physical health.
Quantifying physical activity patterns in patients undergoing PAD rehab
Peripheral artery disease (PAD) occurs due to plaque development in the arteries of the legs. It is a highly prevalent public health problem with worldwide prevalence estimated at ~200 million. Hospital-based supervised exercise training (SET) improves functional ability and quality of life for patients with PAD.
Daynamica is being used in this project to combine accelerometer data with contextual activity data to measure and describe the physical activity of PAD patients during a 12 week hospital-based SET program. The data derived from the Daynamica app will be used to: 1) calculate the dose of physical activity achieved and describe activity patterns of patients within and outside the SET program, 2) determine the effect of enhancements in patient-therapist interactions using the summaries of exercise provided by the Daynamica app, and 3) utilize the experiential knowledge of both PAD patients and providers from the SET program to gain a better understanding of the exercise program and Daynamica app.
Transportation
Encouraging mode shift in daily parking contract holders
The Travel Options Project sought to better understand commuting behaviors of UMN members who were consistently driving and test a new intervention for affecting commuter mode shifting to public transportation.
Daynamica was used to register travel and activity patterns, then promote mode shift recommendations for similar trips. The app’s built-in survey functions allowed researchers to measure whether the individuals were interested and willing to consider the alternative trip mode.
Understanding trip-related emotions
Understanding trip happiness—a measurement of people’s emotional well-being during trips—is an essential aspect of people-oriented transportation planning.
Researchers used Daynamica to collect data on the daily trips and activities of 350 residents in the Minneapolis-St. Paul. App-based surveys were used to solicit self-reported information on companionship and emotions associated with each trip and activity. The resulting data were used to examine trip- and person-level factors associated with trip happiness.
Fan, Yingling, Roland Brown, Kirti Das, and Julian Wolfson. 2019. “Understanding Trip Happiness Using Smartphone-Based Data: The Effects of Trip- and Person-Level Characteristics.” Transport Findings, February 2020. https://doi.org/10.32866/7124.