CATEGORY: virtual coaching, rehabilitation, clinical medicine, review, embodied conversational agent, physical activity, health behavior
SOURCE: Journal of Medical Internet Research, 01.10.2019, doi:10.2196/12805

Rehabilitation, the Great Absentee of Virtual Coaching in Medical Care: Scoping Review

Peppino Tropea, Hannes Schlieter, Irma Sterpi, Elda Judica, Kai Gand, Massimo Caprino, Inigo Gabilondo, Juan Carlos Gomez-Esteban, Stefan Busnatu, Crina Sinescu, Sofoklis Kyriazakos, Sadia Anwar, Massimo Corbo

Abstract

In the last few years, several studies have focused on describing and understanding how virtual coaches (ie, coaching program or smart device aiming to provide coaching support through a variety of application contexts) could be key drivers for health promotion in home care settings. As there has been enormous technological progress in the field of artificial intelligence and data processing in the past decade, the use of virtual coaches gains an augmented attention in the considerations of medical innovations. This scoping review aimed at providing an overview of the applications of a virtual coach in the clinical field. In particular, the review focused on the papers that provide tangible information for coaching activities with an active implication for engaging and guiding patients who have an ongoing plan of care.