Who is the StressChecker Pro for?
The StressChecker Pro has been developed for doctors, physiotherapists, (sports) psychologists, (sports) trainers and personal trainers, work-life balance and stress counsellors, dieticians and masseurs, etc. They can all use the StressChecker Pro to offer their clients extra support while working with them.
What is the StressChecker Pro?
The StressChecker Pro is an adapted version of the StressChecker for consumers. It contains:
1. An extra finger cap with infrared sensor, specially designed to work under bright/artificial lighting conditions and also fits onto larger fingers.
2. A handbook for health pro’s and (sports) trainers and coaches in English.
Why use the StressChecker Pro?
The StressChecker Pro enables professionals to test the condition and responses of the autonomic nervous system of their clients or patients simply and objectively. This sensitive biofeedback device demonstrates how work, family, lifestyle and – often irrational – preconditioned thoughts and attitudes are affecting a person’s stress level.
While professionals can opt to use the StressChecker Pro during sessions with their clients, they can also encourage their clients to purchase their own StressChecker. They will then be able to check their stress levels and their ability to cope with potential overload at any time of the day, whether at work or at home.
Clients can make prints or pdfs of their readings and share them with the professional at any moment.
System requirements
- OS: 20 MB of free disk space.
- For PCs Windows 7, 8 & 10 (32/64 bits), for tablets Windows 8 & 10
- 20 MB-1.5 GB free disk space, depending on Windows update levels
- VGA monitor (800×600) 16 bit
- Internet connection, required for activation
Attention! The StressChecker Pro readings may show unreliable results in the case of people suffering from heart conditions, frequently occurring cardiac arrhythmia or with a pacemaker, or people who are currently taking medication that influences the heart rhythm.
USE FUNCTIONS
Below the main uses are listed.
Function 1. Periodic Measurement
On the one hand, the Periodic Measurement is intended as a preventative measure to ensure that your client’s everyday life is not having a negative impact on his/her vitality.
On the other hand, if your client’s ability to recover is under a certain amount of pressure, you can use a periodic check to establish whether a particular change in his/her lifestyle is having the desired positive effect.
Details of the measurement
In order to evaluate the measurement results correctly, it is important to look closely at the measurement details each time. These details show the extent to which the average HRV score is influenced by one or more excessive fluctuations. Such fluctuations can be caused by severe mood swings, sudden movement, holding one’s breath or an irregular heartbeat, and these can negatively affect the reliability of the measurement results.
The images below show the measurement results of people of the same age and gender in comparison with the average values (indicated by the yellow lines). Ideally, your client’s measured heart rate (blue line) should be on or below the yellow line. Meanwhile, your client’s measured HRV (blue line) should be on or above the yellow line. The higher the average HRV, the better your client’s autonomic nervous system is working. The HRV measurement usually produces a slightly wavy line.
Relax Index Evolution
All measurement results are saved and progression over time can be reviewed under ‘Relax Index Evolution’.
Function 2. Experimenting
You can discover how easy or difficult your client is to influence in the ‘Specific Check’ and ‘Experimenting Freely’ sections.
Function 2a. Experimenting Freely
In the case of ‘Experimenting Freely’, you can gain a real-time insight into your client’s stress level.
In contrast to the Periodic Measurement, you do not need to wait three minutes to learn the score. Instead, you can see how your client’s stress level continually reacts to how tense he or she is at that precise moment. This function enables you to establish the direct impact that a calm breathing technique has on your client, for example, or the effects of meditation or thinking positive thoughts.
Function 2b. Specific Measurement
In the case of a ‘Specific Measurement’, your client takes a number of three-minute readings under various circumstances and/or after certain activities and compares his/her scores with other specific measurements.
For instance, your client might want to explore how different situations – such as a walk in the woods, a tough meeting at work or a relaxing massage – affect his/her well-being
Trainers and coaches can check the effectiveness of their training efforts on the condition of their athletes or players.
Profiles
Since you or your client can save each of these different readings under its own title, they can be referred to and compared to each other in the future. If you or your client wish, the readings can also be shown to other people whenever you like.