Habit Stacking — Blood Pressure

Every time I have gone to the dentist over the past five-ish years they have taken my blood pressure and let me know that it’s borderline high.

At first, I thought, why is my dentist taking my blood pressure? All he tells me is that I should go get it checked out, then cleans my teeth.

I am not sure about you, but I didn’t know anything about blood pressure numbers and since my results were marginal it was easy to brush them under the rug and attribute it to a “white coat syndrome”. Only my dentist is awesome. He is pushing 80 years old, a former hard charging party guy who channeled that wild energy into long-distance running and owned a running store right next to his dentist’s practice.

And every six months I got the same reminder to get my blood pressure checked. Along with a great story from his past ;-)

Finally, almost 4 years later, I contacted my insurance company (pain in the ass), found a doctor, and made an appointment. In the end, it was simple, my blood pressure was normal and I feel better after going. While there, I also had a bunch of bloodwork done. This is a very not a dramatic story, it’s a reminder to appreciate the habit stacking that my dentist designed. For me, there was much less friction to go to the dentist than find a doctor.

This is a lesson that I try to apply at work when designing our consumer experience strategy. How can we build upon habits that people currently have to introduce new ones?

Also — thanks to my dentist for helping make me aware of things that I should be paying attention to….even if it took me four years to take action.

I now have a mobile app from my doctor where I can record any future blood pressure tests that I take.