Digitalization of Personalised Health Risk Management in At-Risk Groups to Improve Health Outcomes through Integration of Technological and Social Innovation

Obesity and related diseases are a growing health problem in Slovakia and worldwide. The Dig4Health project uses digital technologies and artificial intelligence – including large language models integrated into a chatbot – to help people with obesity and obesity-related comorbidities to better manage their health. The project team is creating and testing a personalised digital tool that supports everyday lifestyle changes and is funded by the Recovery and resilience plan of Slovak Republic.

About the project

Dig4Health focuses on digitalisation of personalised health risk management for people living with obesity. Its goal is to develop and test a scalable, cost-effective and personalised digital health programme. The programme uses adaptive artificial intelligence to tailor individualised recommendations and to support behavioural change more efficiently by integrating intelligent technologies.

A central part of the solution is a conversational chatbot based on large language models (LLMs). This chatbot accompanies participants throughout the whole programme, helps them understand the recommendations, answers their questions in a simple language and motivates them to keep up with lifestyle changes.

Partners and roles

The project connects three partners. The Biomedical Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences coordinates the project and provides medical and clinical expertise. Zhiva, j.s.a. contributes its experience with digital health applications and their deployment in real environments. The Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies (KInIT) is responsible for artificial intelligence, data analysis and responsible innovation.

What we are building

Within Dig4Health, distinct strategies of digital coaching for lifestyle change were designed and implemented as digital tools that can provide personalised tips, reminders, feedback and educational content. The LLM-based chatbot will be the main interface through which participants interact with the programme and receive this support. The effectiveness to elicit behavioural change and cost-effectiveness of the approaches is being verified in a randomised controlled trial.

KInIT responsibilities

KInIT’s main tasks in the project are:

Impact

By combining approaches of biomedical, and behavioural research to provide the guidance for modern AI, Dig4Health aims to show how digital tools – including LLM-based chatbots – can support long-term lifestyle change and reduce the burden of obesity-related diseases. The project also builds a foundation for future research and wider use of personalised digital services in Slovakia.

Partners:

Funded by the EU NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia under the project No. 09I05-03-V02-00060.