System support for behavioral change within the area of sustainable working life

Purpose and goal

In our application, we described three goals; investigate technology and design, produce a demo version and validate the business model. We realized early on that occupational health care (FHV) has not yet developed a clear strategy for its digital development. The intended requirements discussion with FHV had to be replaced with two pilot studies. The lessons learned from the pilot studies formed the basis for the demo development. In parallel, we had discussions with the management groups for FHV about how our business model could be adapted to FHV´s working methods.

Expected results and effects

Pilot studies and management interviews led to the following requirements: Mobile application for participants. The application must be easy to log in to and use. Labor-saving web solution for coaches. Three methods to work with (physical activity, eating habits and balance-in-life). Launch of the ProBITS method where the application is one part but the method also includes support in the form of a manual for introduction and training for coaches. The software includes built-in decision support (based on AI) to facilitate coaches´ individual feedbacks.

Planned approach and implementation

The concept of "sustainable working life" presupposes that many workers make lifestyle changes. In the project, two 6-8 month long pilot studies were conducted with 8 participants with stress and 10 with obesity, respectively. A needs analysis directly with the companies was done due to FHV´s hesitations about digital solutions. A project work with computer science students at Umeå University to develop a modern design for mobile applications was completed. Agreements with software developers have been signed and the work of developing a demo has been ongoing since April 2020.