Caring for a family member with health concerns can cause worry and stress for you, too. This is particularly true if older members of your family have health issues that may threaten their ability to continue living an independent life.

Apple’s response to this issue is to provide a Health Sharing feature to make it easy to track and monitor the health data of your loved ones. How can you use Health Sharing to help you keep an eye on the well-being of your loved ones? Fortunately, it's an easy process and one that can help your family.

What You Need to Share Your Health Data

You can set up Apple Health Sharing to securely share specific health information with up to five friends and family members via the Apple Health app. It’s a key part of Apple’s ongoing focus on wellness.

Here’s what you need to get started:

  • You must be running iOS 15 or later on your Apple device to share your health data.
  • You need iOS 16 or later to invite someone to share health data.
  • Your iCloud account must have Health turned on and two-factor authentication enabled.
  • The person you want to share with must be saved in your contacts with their iCloud account email included.
Screenshot of iCloud menu in iOS 16 showing Health feature turned on
Screenshot of iOS 16 menu showing iCloud Health feature detail

How to Share Your Health Data With Someone

You'll share your health data via the Apple Health app:

  • Open the Health app on your iPhone.
  • Tap the Sharing tab, then tap the Share with Someone button.
  • Search for a contact to share with. Any name in blue indicates that the other person’s device supports sharing. If their name is gray, their device does not support sharing.
  • Tap See Suggested Topics or Set Up Manually.
  • Choose the data you want to share.
  • Tap Share, then tap Done.
Screenshot of Apple Health Sharing Share Invitation screen
Screenshot of Apple Health Sharing Share With screen showing grey and blue markers

What Data Can You Share With Your Family?

You can use Apple’s See Suggested Topics button, which will give a list of suggested categories based on your available data. Or you can simply tap the Set Up Manually button for full control of the data you share. Every metric that Apple Health measures can be easily shared, from Activity categories to Heart and Mobility data.

Even better, you can enable the person you’re sharing your data with to receive a notification if you receive an important health alert in categories.

Screenshot of Apple Health Sharing Suggested topics screen
Screenshot of Apple Health Sharing Select topics screen
Screenshot of Apple Health Sharing data toggled on and off

How to Invite Someone to Share Health Data With You

Again, this can be done within the Health app.

  • Open the Health app.
  • Tap the Sharing tab, then tap Ask Someone to Share.
  • Search for a contact to share with.
  • Tap the Send button to send the invitation.

The person you send the invitation to can choose which health information to share. Remember, you’ll need to ensure that you are included in their contacts for the process to be successful.

Screenshot of Apple Health Sharing Invitation message
Screenshot of Apple Health Sharing menu

How to Manage and Stop Sharing Health Data

It’s a simple process to manage which data you’re sharing at any time, as you just toggle the switches next to each category on or off. To stop sharing with the individual completely, scroll to the foot of the list and tap Stop Sharing.

To stop receiving health data from others, follow these steps:

  • Open the Health app.
  • Select an individual under Sharing With You.
  • Tap Options in the upper-right corner.
  • Turn off Stop Receiving Health Data.
Screenshot of Apple Health Sharing data management screen
Screenshot of Apple Health Sharing data categories management screen

Why It’s a Good Idea to Share Your Health Data

There are many reasons why it’s a good idea to share your health data with your family members or monitor their data. The main benefit of Health Sharing is that it enables you to get an instant notification about any health concerns over the people you care for most. This will allow you to react more quickly in an emergency requiring medical attention, even if you’re not physically near your loved one.

This sounds simple, but it can be one of the best tech aids you can use to help older loved ones stay healthy. And, if you’re in the US, you can also use the Health app to share data with your doctor as well.

Use Health Sharing as a Valuable Tool to Help You Support Your Family’s Health

Using Apple’s Health Sharing feature could just be life-saving, providing you with that instant alert that could prove vital in a medical emergency. And it’s easy to set up and manage, allowing you to keep an eye on your loved ones, especially the older generation.