Method and a system for providing hosted services based on a generalized model of a health/wellness program

• US 9,898,789 B2
• Filed: 04/16/2013
• Issued: 02/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Palo Alto Research Center, Inc. (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Ram, Ashwin, Youngblood, Gregory Michael, Pirolli, Peter L., Nelson, Lester D., Vig, Jesse, Ahern, Shane P., Rubin, Jonathan, Pavlopoulou, Christina
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan, Christopher L
• Application Number:
  US13/863,396
• Publication Number:
  US 20140310013A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,771 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/30 Creation or generation of source code
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/70 relating to mental therapies, e.g. psychological therapy or autogenous training
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for creating a health/wellness program on a generic health/wellness platform. During operation, the system receives, at the generic health/wellness platform, a set of definitions for the health/wellness program, constructs a program model for the health/wellness program, generates a program instance to be executed on the generic health/wellness platform, and associates the program instance to a number of health/wellness modules provided by the health/wellness platform.

Claims

1. A computer-executable method for creating a health/wellness program on a generic health/wellness platform, comprising:

presenting to a program creator, by a server executing the generic health/wellness platform, a program editor with an interactive interface;

obtaining, by the server, a set of program elements specified by the program creator via the program editor, wherein the program elements include one or more of;

program activities, activity ranges, incentive structures, and reward structures corresponding to the health/wellness program;

compiling, by the server, based on the program elements and a generic platform element library, a computer-executable program instance comprising a set of health/wellness modules, a data structure, and a media element, wherein the modules include a coaching agent executable to;

determine a motivation level and an ability level of a user to achieve a goal defined by the program instance; and

estimate, based on the motivation level and ability level, a probability that the user will achieve the goal, wherein the probability increases with the motivation level;

executing, on the server or a client device, the program instance; and

in response to the estimated probability being less than a predetermined threshold, delivering, via the program instance, coaching interventions to increase the user'"'"'s motivation level and probability of achieving the goal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the health/wellness modules include one or more of:

a social conversation engine configured to facilitate social support to the user from a teammate or a second user;

a contextual data acquisition module configured to monitor the user'"'"'s communication or location;

a recommendation engine;

a coaching agent configured to encourage the user'"'"'s achievement of health goals and plans; and

a dialog agent.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the health/wellness modules include both a recommendation engine and a contextual data acquisition module, and wherein the recommendation engine is configured to provide recommendations to the user of the health/wellness program based at least on user context obtained by the contextual data acquisition module.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the recommendation engine is configured to recommend to the user one or more of:

a health/wellness program hosted by the health/wellness generic platform;

a challenge associated with the recommended health/wellness program;

a team to join for participating the recommended health/wellness program; and

a challenge to the team.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the interventions are delivered to the user or a teammate of the user.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the health/wellness modules include the dialog agent, and wherein the dialog agent maintains at least one persistent Artificial Intelligence Modeling Language (AIML) dialog instance.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the delivered interventions include one or more of:

motivational interviewing with the user;

dialogs with the user regarding user attitudes;

decomposition into subgoals; and

troubleshooting barriers of the user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the motivation level and ability level of the user are determined based on a model of the user comprising abilities, knowledge, and motivation.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating the probability the user will achieve the goal is based on a measurement-modeling framework:

wherein the measurement-modeling framework implements an optimal selection of coaching interventions based on measurements of user states and state-changes;

wherein the measurement-modeling framework can update the determined motivation level and ability level of the user based on a coaching process; and

wherein the measurement-modeling framework can refine model parameters from data collected from a plurality of users.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the probability as the increasing function indicates an exponential of the obtained motivation level and ability level according to a multinomial logit (MRCML) model within a Rasch model family.

11. A generic health/wellness system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the health/wellness system to implement;

a program editor with an interactive interface that obtains a set of program elements specified by a program creator, wherein the program elements include one or more of;

program activities, activity ranges, and incentive structures, and reward structures corresponding to a health/wellness program;

a program instance compiler that compiles, based on the program elements and a generic platform element library, a computer-executable program instance comprising a set of health/wellness modules that perform functions of the program instance, a data structure, and a media element, wherein the modules include a coaching agent executable to;

determine a motivation level and an ability level of a user to achieve a goal defined by the program instance; and

estimate, based on the motivation level and ability level, a probability that the user will achieve the goal, wherein the probability increases with the motivation level; and

the set of health/wellness modules, to be deployed by the health/wellness platform, that facilitate execution of the program instance for a user;

wherein, in response to the estimated probability being less than a predetermined threshold, the program instance delivers coaching interventions to increase the user'"'"'s motivation level and probability of achieving the goal.

12. The generic health/wellness system of claim 11, wherein the health/wellness modules include one or more of:

a social conversation engine configured to facilitate social support to the user from a teammate or a second user;

a contextual data acquisition module configured to monitor the user'"'"'s communication or location;

a recommendation engine;

a coaching agent configured to encourage the user'"'"'s achievement of health goals and plans; and

a dialog agent.

13. The generic health/wellness system of claim 12, wherein the health/wellness modules include both a recommendation engine and a contextual data acquisition module, and wherein the recommendation engine is configured to provide recommendations to the user of the health/wellness program based at least on user context obtained by the contextual data acquisition module.

14. The generic health/wellness system of claim 12, wherein the recommendation engine is configured to recommend to the user one or more of:

a health/wellness program hosted by the health/wellness generic platform;

a challenge associated with the recommended health/wellness program;

a team to join for participating the recommended health/wellness program; and

a challenge to the team.

15. The generic health/wellness system of claim 11, wherein the interventions are delivered to the user or a teammate of the user.

16. The generic health/wellness system of claim 12, wherein the health/wellness modules include the dialog agent, and wherein the dialog agent maintains at least one persistent Artificial Intelligence Modeling Language (AIML) dialog instance.