Mainstream media, both print and online, peppered their 2013 Mother’s Day gift suggestions including pod coffeemakers, bangle bracelets, candy-colored accessories and digital health devices.
Say, what?
In Parade magazine, Mother’s Day 2013 gift ideas included the Fitbit “smart pedometer,” linked to a “buy” site at REI. You can’t get much more mainstream than Parade.
In Entertainment Weekly, Bronwyn Barnes, style maven for the magazine, wrote a one-page “Get Ready for Mom 2.0” and her recommendations included the Pebble Smartwatch, the Jawbone Up wristband, and the HoodieBuddie with earbuds built into the drawstrings.
Men’s Health told sons and husbands to check out the Garmin Forerunner watch, and Electronista suggested the BodyMedia FIT LINK armband.
2013 is the year when it’s cool to gift Mom with a self-tracking device. What, after all, says I love you more than a product that can help someone become more mindful of their daily choices that bolster health and longevity?
Health Populi’s Hot Points: With digital health a fast-growing category at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, there was a question many of us asked about the pace-of-adoption in this marketplace. Clearly, media are picking up the trend. Are retailers selling these off the shelves?
I noticed a new shelf at my local Wegmans this weekend featuring several Omron blood pressure monitors nestled between gluten-free foods, the pharmacy, and the health & beauty aisles. At the CES 2013, Omron’s staff told me that retailer selling the most Omron digital health devices in the U.S. is…Amazon.com.
From Parade magazine to Amazon, digital health is mainstreaming. Happy, Healthy Mother’s Day, 2013!
I was invited to be a Judge for the upcoming 
Thank you Team Roche for inviting me to brainstorm patients as health citizens, consumers, payers, and voters 
For the past 15 years,