I-Corps: Diet and Behavior Change Software Application

I-Corps：饮食和行为改变软件应用程序

• 批准号: 2244893
• 负责人: Adrian Aguilera
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-02-15 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2244893&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Diet; Behavior; Change; Software

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a digital health intervention that provides a customizable, accessible, and affordable approach to diet and physical activity change. The proposed technology has the potential to reduce users’ risk of chronic illnesses and may allow them to live longer, healthier lives. Chronic illnesses are the causes of 71% of all deaths globally. Health care costs associated with treating chronic illnesses place significant strain on individuals and society. Modifiable behaviors like unhealthy diet and physical inactivity significantly increase the risk of chronic illnesses while solutions must include a focus on modifying health behavior. Many individuals are aware that they are at risk of chronic illness and receive instructions from their healthcare providers about the need to eat healthier, increase physical activity, and change other aspects of their lifestyle, but beyond that, they receive very little tangible support or actionable guidance. The proposed technology may provide these individuals with personalized health advice and clear action steps to improve their health and decrease their risk of incurring illness. A reduction in the prevalence of chronic illnesses will translate to significant cost savings for individuals and reduced healthcare expenditures.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a lifestyle and behavior change digital health intervention including a software application and a conversational agent to decrease the risk of chronic illness in users. The proposed software will gather self-reported life data from individuals, including diet history, biochemical data, and family history of illness to design a tailored diet and activity plan based on dietitian input. The conversational agent will assess users’ level of motivation, desire to change, and feasibility of health goals and work with users to enhance their motivation, problem-solve barriers to plan adherence, and sustain healthy changes. A working prototype of the conversational agent has been developed and validated as proof-of-concept. The user design study associated with the conversational agent revealed that users found the conversational agent to be satisfactory, useful, and sustainable in helping them maintain long-term health behavior changes. This technology uses a front-end text messaging interface for communication and a backend conversational agent using a cloud-based tool to develop and manage conversational flows. Content for the conversational agent is grounded in psychotherapeutic techniques and behavior change theories that have been shown to increase user adherence and promote long-term change.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种数字健康干预措施，为饮食和身体活动的改变提供一种可定制的，可访问的和负担得起的方法。 这项技术有可能降低用户患慢性病的风险，并使他们活得更长、更健康。慢性病是全球71%死亡的原因。与治疗慢性病相关的医疗保健费用给个人和社会带来了巨大的压力。不健康的饮食和缺乏身体活动等可改变的行为会显着增加患慢性病的风险，而解决方案必须包括关注改变健康行为。许多人意识到他们有患慢性病的风险，并从他们的医疗保健提供者那里得到关于需要吃得更健康，增加体育活动和改变生活方式其他方面的指示，但除此之外，他们很少得到有形的支持或可操作的指导。所提出的技术可以为这些人提供个性化的健康建议和明确的行动步骤，以改善他们的健康状况并降低他们患病的风险。慢性病患病率的降低将为个人节省大量成本，并减少医疗支出。I-Corps项目基于开发一种生活方式和行为改变数字健康干预，包括一种软件应用程序和一种对话代理，以降低用户患慢性病的风险。拟议中的软件将收集个人自我报告的生活数据，包括饮食史，生化数据和家族病史，以根据营养师的输入设计量身定制的饮食和活动计划。对话代理将评估用户的动机水平，改变的愿望和健康目标的可行性，并与用户合作，以提高他们的动机，解决问题的障碍，以计划的遵守，并维持健康的变化。会话代理的工作原型已经开发和验证的概念证明。与会话代理相关的用户设计研究表明，用户发现会话代理是令人满意的，有用的，可持续的，帮助他们保持长期的健康行为变化。该技术使用前端文本消息接口进行通信，并使用基于云的工具来开发和管理会话流的后端会话代理。会话代理的内容基于心理治疗技术和行为改变理论，这些技术和理论已被证明可以提高用户的依从性并促进长期变化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。