Digi-PAM

This project, funded by Research Ireland’s pathway program seeks to develop a digital health intervention for menopausal women, to increase their physical activity, reduce sedentary behavior and reduce their risk of developing coronary heart disease. 

Coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of death globally. In women, the menopause is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, with the decline in oestrogen having a detrimental effect on cardiovascular function. Regular physical activity can help menopausal women reduce their risk of coronary heart disease. Digital health interventions are increasingly being used to target physical activity in a range of chronic health conditions. However, despite the development of multiple digital interventions, it remains unclear how to design engaging and effective digital physical activity interventions. Many digital intervention approaches are static and do not take into account the changing needs of the individual and their environment.

This work seeks to develop a digital intervention specifically targeting physical activity and sedentary behavior in middle-aged menopausal women. The developed intervention will apply advanced analytics to the behavior and context related data gathered by the platform in order to optimize the intervention and achieve the best outcome. In addition to examining the feasibility of the approach, this research will also examine the effectiveness of the developed adaptive intervention in promoting physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior in menopausal women.

For more information, contact the principal investigator Dr Oonagh Giggins: [email protected]