Let us Get Real! Integrated Approach for Virtual Coaching and Real Time Activity Monitoring in Lifestyle Change Support Systems

There is a fast growing number of eHealth systems aiming at supporting a healthy lifestyle. Tailored lifestyle coaching services offer individual users access to web portals where they can communicate about a growing number of ingredients of everyday life concern: physical activity, nutrition, medication, mood, sleep. Mobile technology in combination with body worn sensors support user’s awareness of their physical condition and lifestyle. Despite the large number of available lifestyle interventions and pilot trials, only very few are successfully transferred into the real health care practice. This paper presents new insights and recommendations for the design of lifestyle support systems with personalized virtual coaching based on two user studies. The first study focuses on the mobile physical activity coaching for diabetes patients and office workers. The second study summarizes the persuasive factors on attitudes of high-risk adolescents towards a virtual coach in mobile eHealth applications and social media. We present a new approach that integrates an animated digital coach in an activity monitoring lifestyle change support system.