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Intelligent Virtual Assistant for Promoting Behaviour Change in Older People with T2D

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Book cover Progress in Artificial Intelligence (EPIA 2019)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 11804))

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Abstract

We present a version of an application prototype developed in the context of the VASelfCare project. This application works as an intelligent anthropomorphic virtual relational agent that has the role of assisting older people with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D) in medication adherence and lifestyle changes.

In this paper, we focus on the development of the dialogue component of the system and in what we consider one of the main original contributions: the incorporation, in the way the dialogue flows, of Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs), identified in the context of the Behaviour Change Wheel framework.

We also describe the general architecture of the system, including the graphical component. Tests on the prototype pre-requisites were conducted with health professionals and older adults with T2D within five primary care units of the Portuguese National Health Service. Overall, these tests yielded encouraging data and endorsed our approach.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.daz3d.com.

  2. 2.

    https://unity.com/.

  3. 3.

    https://harposoftware.com.

  4. 4.

    http://clipsrules.sourceforge.net/.

  5. 5.

    Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and Tagus Valley.

  6. 6.

    We include participants’ ids to guarantee traceability.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to other VASelfCare team members for their contribution to the software development (http://vaselfcare.rd.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/). This work was supported by FCT and Compete 2020 (grant number LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-024250). It is also supported by UID/MULTI /04046/2019 Research Unit grant from FCT, Portugal (to BioISI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute (BioISI), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    João Balsa, Pedro Neves, Pedro Alves, Maria Beatriz Carmo, Diogo Marques, António Dias & Ana Paula Cláudio

  2. Unidade de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Enfermagem (ui&de), Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Isa Félix, Mara Pereira Guerreiro & Adriana Henriques

  3. CiiEM, Instituto Universitário Egas Moniz, Monte de Caparica, Portugal

    Mara Pereira Guerreiro

Authors
  1. João Balsa
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  2. Pedro Neves
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  3. Isa Félix
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  4. Mara Pereira Guerreiro
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  5. Pedro Alves
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  6. Maria Beatriz Carmo
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  7. Diogo Marques
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  8. António Dias
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  9. Adriana Henriques
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  10. Ana Paula Cláudio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to João Balsa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. INESC-TEC, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

    Paulo Moura Oliveira

  2. University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Paulo Novais

  3. LIACC/UP, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Luís Paulo Reis

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Balsa, J. et al. (2019). Intelligent Virtual Assistant for Promoting Behaviour Change in Older People with T2D. In: Moura Oliveira, P., Novais, P., Reis, L. (eds) Progress in Artificial Intelligence. EPIA 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11804. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30241-2_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30241-2_32

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-30240-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-30241-2

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