AUDICOBE

Mood disorders, such as characterized depressive disorders (or “unipolar disorders”) and bipolar disorders, are a public health issue for patients and their families, and have a considerable impact on their quality of life. Cognitive and behavioral therapies have proven their effectiveness in the management of these disorders. However, healthcare systems are faced with increasing delays and accessibility problems. Faced with this challenge, digital solutions offer an innovative alternative.

The project takes the form of a clinical trial and aims to explore the acceptability and effectiveness of a new, innovative digital intervention, to contribute to the development of precision medicine.
The digital solution being studied stems from the Kanopée application, developed by UMR CNRS SANPSY 6033 :
– assessment and phenotyping of patients’ mental health using a virtual agent under ecological conditions,
– an intervention inspired by cognitive-behavioral therapies, offering personalized recommendations for physical activity and sleep hygiene, as well as motivational interviews,
– intervention monitoring involving reinforcement strategies and evaluation interviews.

The solution uses empathetic human interfaces based on animated conversational agents (ACAs) running on the patient’s smartphone. These ACAs have already been used in medicine for diagnostic, preventive or therapeutic purposes, and have proved highly acceptability to patients. This digital solution will be interoperable (multiscale, multimodal and high-frequency) and will develop to be patient-friendly, and therefore highly acceptable (empathetic, guaranteeing user privacy and generating trust).

Bordeaux University, Fondation FondaMental, team UMR CNRS SANPSY 6033