PräNUDGE: Digital Health Motivation

The recently launched FFG project PräNUDGE was set up with the aim of increasing the number of healthy life years of the Austrian population. By combining evidence-based health promotion with nudging strategies, i.e. the targeted initiation of behavioural changes, citizens are to be motivated to adopt healthier behaviours. Joanneum Research HEALTH is the project coordinator.

 

‘As part of the PräNUDGE project, we are developing a platform for integrating standardised lifestyle data from apps. This should enable health service providers and public institutions to make better use of available data for prevention work and promote a sustainable preventive health policy,’ explains project manager and institute director Franz Feichtner.

Digitalisation in medicine is a topic of great interest. The aim is to use data and data processing to make health promotion and prevention more efficient. Unlike commercial fitness and health apps like Garmin or Apple Health, the added value of PräNUDGE lies in the integration of health data on a non-profit platform. The goal is to generate social benefits and to anchor prevention in the public health system in the long term. The value of data depends, among other things, on its quality and interoperability. That is why a qualification process for health apps is being developed as part of the project. This should not only ensure that the data can be used, but also increase the trustworthiness of the apps among citizens.

PräNUDGE is based on a modular, interoperable platform that combines health data from a variety of sources. In this context, qualified apps form the interface between citizens and the platform. Four Austrian companies will develop the basis for such apps: Medicus AI, dccx, telbiomed and Kurvenkratzer.

Digital Nudging

International studies show that digital solutions can have a lasting influence on health behaviour and that nudging – the targeted encouragement of behavioural change – is effective. PräNUDGE uses these findings to develop targeted recommendations for promoting health. Susann Fiedler, head of the Institute for Cognition & Behaviour at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, will lead a separate work package in which personalised motivational messages for apps will be researched and trust-building features of health platforms will be identified in a citizen participation process to ensure a high level of acceptance and use.

In the long term, the platform is to be used in the Austrian healthcare system. The Future Health Lab (FHL), the ‘innovation centre for the healthcare of the future’ founded in 2023 in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and Impact Hub Vienna, is responsible for this. The FHL is leading a work package that is dedicated to a multi-stakeholder process focusing exclusively on the sustainable use of the results and their implementation in preventive health policy.

A central technical partner in the project is HEALTH, the Institute for Biomedical Research and Technologies at Joanneum Research. The institute contributes its expertise in the areas of data analysis, artificial intelligence and digital health solutions. Together with the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the team led by Franz Feichtner ensures that the information collected is processed and stored in accordance with data protection requirements. In addition, Joanneum Research is contributing to the optimisation of the platform architecture and, together with AIT, is ensuring that the collected data can be made usable for scientific and health policy purposes. ‘In the project, we are creating a concept for an Austrian Lifestyle Health Data Space that will integrate data from existing data silos,’ explains Feichtner.

Added value for healthcare professionals

In the future, PräNUDGE is designed to offer doctors a decisive advantage. While data relevant to prevention, such as information on exercise, nutrition, sleep or mental health, is often not available at present, the systematic collection and provision of this data within the framework of the PräNUDGE system could significantly improve medical decisions. For example, alcohol consumption or stress factors at work would not only be visible in isolation, but also in the context of other health parameters.

A certain degree of focus is important in order to generate results that are as specific and useful as possible and to avoid remaining too general. For this reason, PräNUDGE is initially aimed at young people and children, the unemployed and people in employment, and focuses on collecting data on health determinants that influence the development of the following diseases: diabetes, bowel cancer, depression and COPD. In the future, however, the platform could of course be extended to include other user groups and other diseases.

Project partners and financing

PräNUDGE is a collaborative research project involving 14 Austrian partners from science and health and technology companies, including BioNanoNet Association members Medical University of Graz and AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH. It is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) and pursues the goal of making health data usable in the interest of society.