Virtual Coach
Research Objectives:
This is a randomized controlled trial which will measure the effect of personalized feedback and motivational coaching, via the Virtual Coach computer avatar, on adherence to an activity regime. We will also monitor whether subjects form a social bond and effective relationship with the Virtual Coach.
Drivers:
As we increasingly read and hear in the news, over two-thirds of Americans are currently overweight or obese. Management of obesity is complex and requires a combination of behavioral, medical and potentially surgical therapy, in combination with psychological support. Poor adherence to recommended levels of exercise is a major barrier to patients successfully losing weight.
Research suggests that the best approach to effect the long-term changes in activity and diet required for sustained weight loss would include motivational coaching, sustained personalized feedback and patient education. To deliver all these elements through traditional methods, however, requires a level of manpower and interpersonal interaction that is costly and thus not accessible to many who require it. Although strategies using the Internet to promote adherence have shown some success, their impact is limited by the absence of a therapeutic relationship.
Program Overview:
We will develop an automated Virtual Coach to deliver personalized feedback, based on physiological data gathered by the activity monitor, to promote adherence to an exercise regime, thus promoting weight loss. This trial will create a link between two pieces of currently available technology – an animated computer avatar developed by Tim Bickmore at Northeastern University, and a wearable activity monitor by AWare Technologies.
We plan to recruit 64 patients for the study. Patients will participate in the study for 12 weeks. Half of the study participants will receive a wearable activity monitor to track their daily activity. Half will receive the activity monitor and the Virtual Coach computer software. We hypothesize that overweight subjects interacting with the Virtual Coach will demonstrate improved adherence to an exercise regime.
Enrollment for this study will begin in the fall of 2007.