Robert Kenyon, Steve Jones, Stellan Ohlsson, Andrew Johnson, Eulalia Abril, UIC Computer Science, Communications, and Psychology Depts; Jason Leigh, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; Giselle Giselle Mosnaim, Rush University Medical Center – Primary Grant Support: UIC CCTS Fall 2011 Pilot Grant Program UIC students are designing a computer-enhanced asthma doser device based on commercial platforms such as Arduino to gather and wirelessly transmit data from the embedded sensors to a prototype Health Cloud data server. This Cloud anonymously stores the information and then presents personalized Persuasive Visualizations to individuals in the targeted user group.
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UIC exploits emerging trends in computing technologies (sensors, cloud computing, mobile computing and visualization) to transform healthcare. UIC is prototyping a healthcare ecosystem that consists of handheld asthma devices, Health Cloud computing to monitor and capture data, and avatar-based Persuasive Visualization feedback delivered via social networking services to motivate recipients to adhere to daily medication schedules. The technologies being developed must be generalizable to other healthcare areas, and to individuals with or without health risks. Small clinical studies will quantitatively assess if these technologies improve this group’s asthma outcomes, and qualitatively evaluate the social and psychological benefits of applying Human Augmentics to asthma self-management.
The overarching goal of this project is to apply emerging trends in computing technologies to transform healthcare. Basic principles of computer modeling, health communications, and behavior change theory are translated into actionable strategies and practices to help individuals change health behaviors and improve health outcomes. The hypothesis is that if individuals are able to easily monitor their health status 24/7 and receive personally tailored, persuasive, and actionable feedback and suggestions at the right times, they can be continuously coached towards healthier living; e.g., reducing unhealthy practices such as sedentary living or cigarette use, or reminded to take daily medications. Specifically, this research aims to help reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations for acute exacerbations of asthma in inner-city African American adolescents who fail to take their preventive medications.
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The vision is to create the infrastructure for a “lifelong coach” that monitors an individual’s health status, makes predictions of their health future, and provides tailored, persuasive and actionable recommendations and encouragement to help them remain healthy long into their old age. This “coach” will dramatically affect their health and potentially reduce the costs of medical care and insurance. Can human behavior be impacted? Can healthcare be transformed from reactive and hospital-centered to preventive, proactive, evidence-based, person-centered wellbeing? Human Augmentics refers to the field of study that employs information technologies to amplify human capabilities. www.uic.edu/depts/mcam/CCTS/about/pilotgrantfundedfall-2011.shtml# www.augmentics.org