Nudge me Well
Personalized behavioral messages to increase adherence to colorectal cancer screening tests
Partners
Meuhedet Health Services, GistMD, funded by Ministry of Health award
Collaborators
Yehudit Zamir, Dr. Ronen Bareket (MD)
The Problem
Remote care and digital-based interventions to increase patient engagement for behavioral change are becoming more and more prevalent. However, interventions aimed at promoting healthy behaviors in large populations (e.g., national prevention programs) usually incorporate a “one-size-fits-all” approach, limiting their effectiveness. Personalized interventions have the potential to significantly improve the impact and efficiency of large-scale interventional programs.
Our Approach
This study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of personalized interventions in improving adherence to screening tests for early detection of Colorectal Cancer (CRC). CRC is the second most commonly diagnosed malignancy in Israel and the second most common cause of cancer death. In recent years, Fecal Occult Blood Testing (FOBT) has reduced the frequency of late-stage CRC diagnosis. However, the FOBT adherence rates in Israel are suboptimal.
Behavioral Solutions
The study will be carried among Meuhedet HMO members aged 50-75, who have been referred for annual FOBT. It includes two large-scale experiments evaluating the efficacy of personalized vs. one-size-fits-all interventions in improving FOBT adherence. The first, exploratory experiment will examine how patients with different levels in individual traits react to different interventions. This will result in a model that enables personalization of patients with different profiles and the interventions predicted to affect them best. The second, validation experiment will test whether the interaction model developed in the first experiment improves FOBT adherence more than non-personalized interventions.
Results and Impact
Improved adherence through personalization will directly lead to reduced CRC morbidity and mortality. The model can then be adapted to other screening test adherence challenges.
More Information
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