In the era of rapid technological advancement, wearables have emerged as a promising tool for enhancing health and well-being. The convergence of health and technology drives an unprecedented change in the approach to health and well-being management. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the potential role of wearables in actualising health and well-being, thereby paving the way for a healthier and more sustainable future. Using the Affordance Theory lens, this paper delves into the transformative potential of wearables in health and well-being management, thereby promoting Sustainable Development Goal 3 to ensure healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages. The thematic analysis of online reviews on wearable devices captured through web scraping was carried out to explore the potential of these devices in the management of health and well-being. The paper explored how wearables, often integrated into everyday life, can monitor vital signs, track fitness metrics, and even provide therapeutic benefits for health and well-being. The findings reveal that wearables can empower individuals to take charge of their health by leveraging real-time data and personalised feedback, promoting a proactive and preventive approach to health management and resource-effective healthcare. Furthermore, the paper highlights how wearables can contribute to long-term health outcomes for the present generation without exerting excessive strain on the resources for future generations.

Personal health management and clinical health systems are increasingly being transformed by data-driven smart technologies that enable remote monitoring, predictive analytics, and digitally mediated care. Wearable technologies contribute to this transformation by continuously generating wearable health data (WHD), but integrating such data into routine and clinical health management raises governance requirements beyond those for traditional health data. This study examines perceptions of WHD governance among wearable users and health professionals in South Africa. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, with quantitative and qualitative data collected through questionnaires and interviews. The findings show that wearable users are generally confident in WHD governance regarding access, reliability, trust, accuracy, and sharing. Privacy and third-party data practices raised comparatively less concern, though with less certainty, while perceptions of security and the adequacy of current South African laws were less definite and marked more by uncertainty. Health professionals viewed WHD governance more cautiously, emphasising regulatory adequacy, data quality, security, accountability, and the conditions required for meaningful use of WHD in health management. The study concludes that effective WHD governance requires more than formal regulation and must also support intelligibility, credibility, quality assurance, and practical oversight to support the responsible integration of WHD into health management.