The purpose of this project is to help prevent psychological disorders in high-risk individuals with early symptoms of stress, depression, substance use, and other health problems. PHIT for Duty integrates self-report and physiological sensor instruments to assess health status via screening questionnaires for stress, anxiety, sleep quality, depression, and alcohol use. An expert system, called the intelligent virtual advisor (iVA), processes these data using evidence-based logic to determine health risk and to prescribe SHIs including mindfulness meditation, health education, and cognitive behavior change modules for reducing stress, attentional restructuring, improving sleep and reducing alcohol use. Persons with high risk are advised to consult their primary care provider for a professional health assessment. Persons with mild or moderate risk (i.e., subclinical scores), are presented with a suite of interventional, therapeutic, and monitoring activities to support post-traumatic stress reduction. These include skills acquisitions (e.g., mindfulness meditation), health education (e.g., sleep hygiene), cognitive behavior change (e.g., alcohol use), and self-monitoring activities. The mindfulness content comprises learning materials and meditation practices, and is provided both as a six-week structured course and as self-administered resources. A “to-do” list of assessments and activities is updated daily and displayed on the PHIT for Duty home screen as a menu for the user. Usability evaluation of the PHIT for Duty health assessments, physiological sensors , system acceptability, and overall system functionality have shown positive results and affirmation of the PHIT mobile application framework design.
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