A reusable framework for health counseling dialogue systems based on a behavioral medicine ontology

Abstract

Automated approaches to promoting health behavior change, such as exercise, diet, and medication adherence promotion, have the potential for significant positive impact on society. We describe a theory-driven computational model of dialogue that simulates a human health counselor who is helping his or her clients to change via a series of conversations over time. Applications built using this model can be used to change the health behavior of patients and consumers at low cost over a wide range of media including the web and the phone. The model is implemented using an OWL ontology of health behavior change concepts and a public standard task modeling language (ANSI/CEA-2018). We demonstrate the power of modeling dialogue using an ontology and task model by showing how an exercise promotion system developed in the framework was re-purposed for diet promotion with 98% reuse of the abstract models. Evaluations of these two systems are presented, demonstrating high levels of fidelity to best practices in health behavior change counseling.