Method and apparatus for mobile health and wellness management incorporating real-time coaching and feedback, community and rewards

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a mobile lifestyle management system, combining a server-based application enabling creation of an integrated health and wellness plan (comprising diet, exercise, medication and vitals testing), with a client-based application enabling management of, and compliance with, the resulting lifestyle plan. The client application is installed on a wireless, Internet-enabled mobile device, the server application on an Internet-connected server, and the two applications exchange data with one another via an over-the-air “OTA” synchronization using standard Internet protocols. The resulting ecosystem operates as a stand-alone lifestyle management system, but can also be configured to function as a content delivery platform, when integrated with existing Web-based health and wellness content.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This Application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 594,009 filed Mar. 4, 2005 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MOBILE HEALTH AND WELLNESS MANAGEMENT INCORPORATING REAL-TIME COACHING AND FEEDBACK, COMMUNITY AND REWARDS, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and claims any and all benefits to which it is entitled therefrom. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to wireless health maintenance and lifestyle management, and more particularly to the exchange of health and wellness data between an internet-enabled mobile device and a server-based application, based on a lifestyle plan provided by a practitioner, expert system, or the patient / subscriber / user themselves. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Recent trends suggest that the United States (and to a lesser extent, other industrialized nations throughout the world) are facing a looming public health crisis, the byproduct of an aging p...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] It is an object and advantage of the invention to provide a system and method for improving the health and wellness of an individual (hereafter, referred to as the end user) by delivering an integrated health and wellness management platform, consisting in the preferred embodiment of an Internet-connected server-side application configured to enable the creation of a comprehensive, personalized lifestyle plan by a health and wellness practitioner(s), and connected via wireless synchronization of known method with a client-side application installed on an Internet-enabled mobile device, itself configured to enable compliance with the lifestyle plan through the application of behavior modification techniques such as real-time coaching, outcome journaling and feedback, goal-based rewards and linkage with a broad community. The presence of the mobile device is a critical advantage, ensuring that the end user receives critical coaching and feedback when and where it matters most; that is, at the time and place of decision-making relative to diet, exercise, medication and other key lifestyle choices that impact health and wellness.

[0016] For the sake of clarity, in the context of the present invention the term “lifestyle plan” refers to a series of scheduled events, each occurring at a specific time (and in some cases, place) and consisting of one or more actionable activities. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned events are related to a user's health and wellness, including:

[0019] 3. Medication events, such as a regimen of antiviral drugs

[0020] 4. Vitals events, such as a practitioner-administered blood test

[0021] In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the definition of an event may be expanded to include any scheduled activity, including those that are only tangentially related to health and wellness, such as a social gathering of end users initiated using the system's community functionality.

Problems solved by technology

Recent trends suggest that the United States (and to a lesser extent, other industrialized nations throughout the world) are facing a looming public health crisis, the byproduct of an aging population and the increasingly poor nutrition and fitness regimens of the populace.

This has led to a dramatic upswing in obesity-related disease states, including Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension, with treatment costs associated with these disease states estimated at $117 billion, and is exerting tremendous upward pressure on healthcare costs in the US, which are currently forecast to reach 16% of GDP by 2006.

This trend, which is clearly unsustainable, has led to a slow but deliberate shift in the orientation and focus of the traditional healthcare delivery system, as payers and practitioners alike seek more effective and efficient alternatives to traditional disease treatment programs, such as disease state management and prevention.

While the market for consumer-oriented health and wellness products and services is large and growing, research consistently demonstrates that the majority of such offerings (be they diet programs or health club memberships) fail to deliver the sort of measurable, sustainable results that would warrant their expense.

Furthermore, while recent advances in technology (in particular, the emergence of wireless, Internet-enabled mobile devices) has led to a broad array of technology-based solutions, each aimed at improving the health and wellness of an individual, a review of the prior art suggests that these solutions each have one or more disadvantages that may ultimately limit their effectiveness—to wit: Not optimally integrating (and balancing) the roles of practitioners and end users.

Practitioner-driven solutions (such as wireless health monitoring solutions) often treat the end user as little more than a passive instruction follower, while consumer-driven solutions provide little in the way of coaching and guidance, often requiring the end user to act as their own practitioner or to access / integrate practitioner knowledge in an awkward fashion, limiting their usefulness.

Lacking the ability to address all of the “enablers” of health and wellness, including (but not limited to) diet, exercise, medication and vital sign testing.

Such single-point solutions (e.g. mobile exercise instructional software) require the user to either ignore the other enablers, or to employ multiple solutions to address all of the enablers, again limiting their usefulness.

Such solutions (such as diet tracking software packages) assume that the user needs little motivation to comply with their specified plan, which conflicts with published research highlighting the need for behavioral modification.

However, the referenced design is highly practitioner-driven, encompasses only selected enablers of health and wellness, and does not focus on the driver of plan compliance.

The teaching, however, focuses primarily on the nutritional and dietary requirements and activity of the end user, is not configured to allow practitioner generation of integrated lifestyle plans, nor does it incorporate functionality intended to drive plan compliance, such as rewards or the ability to share plans and results with a broader community.

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