Appraisal of a conversational artefact and its utility in remote patient monitoring

The escalating rise in chronic illnesses, coupled with the shift in population demographics and increasing sedentary lifestyle has placed current health resources under considerable strain. In order to extend care to a wider audience, methods for managing these patients via telecommunications technology should be safe, usable and affordable. This paper reports on the development of a management solution for patients with diabetes and co-existing hypertension. The proposed system, known as DI@L-log, is an intelligent, automated remote monitoring system which involves patients proactively in the care of their condition by using spoken dialogue technology. We discuss the preliminary findings of a recent study involving 5 hypertensive diabetic patients from the Ulster community hospitals trust (UCHT) in Northern Ireland and its potential use in augmenting care for the increasing number of chronic disease patients.