I-Corps: Diet and Behavior Change Software Application

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，为改变饮食和体力活动提供一种可定制、可访问和负担得起的方法。这项拟议的技术有可能降低用户患慢性病的风险，并可能让他们活得更长、更健康。慢性病是全球71%的死亡原因。与治疗慢性病相关的医疗费用给个人和社会带来了巨大的压力。可改变的行为，如不健康的饮食和缺乏体育锻炼，极大地增加了慢性病的风险，而解决方案必须包括关注改变健康行为。许多人意识到自己有患慢性病的风险，并接受医疗保健提供者的指示，要求他们吃得更健康，增加体力活动，并改变生活方式的其他方面，但除此之外，他们几乎得不到切实的支持或可操作的指导。拟议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，降低他们患病的风险。慢性病患病率的降低将转化为个人显著的成本节约和医疗支出的减少。这个i-Corps项目基于生活方式和行为改变数字健康干预的开发，包括一个软件应用程序和一个对话代理，以降低用户患慢性病的风险。拟议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，并与用户合作增强他们的动机，解决遵守计划的障碍，并保持健康的改变。会话代理的工作原型已经开发出来，并作为概念验证进行了验证。与会话代理相关的用户设计研究表明，用户发现会话代理在帮助他们保持长期健康行为改变方面是令人满意的、有用的和可持续的。该技术使用前端文本消息传递界面进行通信，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。对话代理的内容以心理治疗技术和行为改变理论为基础，已被证明可以提高用户的忠诚度并促进长期改变。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.