Transcript System4Life: Designing a Rewards System for Heart Healthy

System4Life: A Rewards System for Heart Healthy Living
Department of Electrical and
Systems Engineering
Abstract
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the
United States and affects over 80 million Americans
every year [1]. Points4Life [2] is a developing
program that aims to lower this statistic. Pending
funding by the American Heart Association,
Points4Life will create an incentive rewards
program that intends to improve heart health
through
positive
reinforcement
strategies.
Participants will earn points for buying hearthealthy products and services, which are then
redeemable for discounts on more heart-healthy
products and services offered by vendors and
health-insurance companies involved with the
program. Points4Life needs a method for
controlling the different players in the program as
well as tracking progress to ensure that the
program functions at an appropriate level.
System4Life develops an approach to handle the
interactions between participants, vendors, healthinsurance companies, and health-care providers, as
well
as
point
allocation
and
distribution.
Interactions between these
stakeholders are modeled by flow charts and
sample web pages.
Additionally, System4Life
contains two large subsystems: Point Calculator and
Point Tracker. The Point Calculator assigns point
values to food items based on nutritional factors,
such as trans-fat content. This point allocation is
one of the main challenges in the system. Point
Tracker provides the system with a method for
tracking individual, as well as group, progress
through member accounts, which is a key metric in
measuring the success of the project.
System4Life has provided assistance in the
development of the Points4Life design. At this
time, much of the System4Life work is being
incorporated
into
a
proposal
for
the
implementation of Points4Life.
[1] American Heart Association Cardiovascular Disease
Statistics. (n.d.) Retrieved October 9, 2009, from
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4478
[2] Interview with Larry Starr, PhD, Director, Organization
Dynamics Graduate Studies, University of Pennsylvania,
September 21, 2009.
By: Carolyn Mooney and
Laura Putzakulish
Advised By: Dr. Peter Scott
and Walter Sobkiw
Group 19
Presentation Times: April 22nd
11:30, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30
Context Diagram
Causal Relationships
•Defines stakeholders and their requirements
•Defines interactions that must be managed via web design
•Uses Analytic Hierarchy Process to develop relationships between risk
factors and nutritional information
•Assisted by Dr. Stella Volpe (nutritionist at the University of
Pennsylvania), pair wise comparisons were used to determine weights
and relationships on all factors.
•Develops a matrix whose eigenvalues yield the coefficient to the
corresponding equations:
•Blood Pressure Points= λ1Sodium_Points + λ2Sugar_Points +
λ3TransFat_Points + λ4SaturatedFat_Points
•Cholesterol Points= λ1Cholesterol_Points + λ2Protein_Points +
λ3Fiber_Points
•Weight Points= λ1Sugar_Points + λ2TransFat_Points +
λ3SaturatedFat_Points
Heart
Accounts and Rewards Management
•Developed prototype web pages and functional flows for both Account Management
and Redeeming Rewards
•Divides all stakeholders, including participants, health insurance companies, health care
providers and vendors, giving each type of user individual functionalities
•Gives each user different Redeeming Reward capabilities
•Allows participants to redeem points that they have earned in the program
• Provides health insurance companies and vendors space to upload reward options for
participants
Results and Examples
•Modeled food products and their point values
•Prints out product, nutritional information, point
value and totals
•Provides higher point values for eating healthy than
eating unhealthy
•Sums meals based on entered servings of each item
•Calculates score of new product and adds to product
list (when given inputs)
Disease
Vendors
Account Information
Rewards Funding
Advertising
Product List
Consumer Data
Account Information
Decision to Redeem
Participants
Rewards
Point Tracking
Point Calculator
Risk Factors:
Blood
Pressure
Account Information
Participant Information
System4Life
Doctors
Advertising
Saturated
Fat
Sugar
Sodium
Policy Holders’ Point
Advertising
Insurance
Figure 1: Context Diagram Describing Stakeholder Interactions with System4Life
Point Tracker
•Provides a set of functional flows assisted by a prototype web page that determines how
user points will be monitored
•Parses input stream into information, divvying points between account users
•Stores weekly and monthly totals for each user
•Displays sample point totals in both graph and chart form on the prototype web page
•Routes temporarily to the Point Calculator in cases where the product is not on the
Product List
NO
Input to point
calculator
Cholesterol
Protein
Figure 5: Example Input Method to Point Calculator
Fiber
Trans Fat
Point Calculator: Designing Point
Values Based on Nutritional Factors
• Takes in nutritional information of a product and outputs a point value
•Uses the above series of equations that relate nutritional information to
risk factors
•Sums the above equations and subtracts from ten to determine point
value
Product Name w/ Brand
On
Product
List?
Cholesterol
Figure 3: Hierarchy Relationships for Developing Calculator Coefficients
Account Information
Rewards Funding
Input List
Nutritional
Information:
Weight
YES
Find account
number in
database
Store input
stream in
account tracker
Add points to
user account
Add points to
weekly total
Point total
Graph month
and week
tracker
Display to user
List of items
bought by date
User signed in for access
Figure 2: Function Flow of the Point Tracker - Describes Inputs, Outputs and Functionality
of the System
On
Product
List?
YES
Output point value
for food
NO
Request relevant
nutritional factors
Save product on
food list
Figure 6: Example of a Healthy Meal and Point Total
User Input: Nutritional
Factors/ Quantities
Weigh nutritional
factor for effect on
risk factors
Sum effects on BP,
cholesterol, and
weight
Scale based on risk
factors’ effect on
heart disease
Figure 4: Function Flow of the Point Calculator- Describes Inputs, Outputs
and
Functionality of the System
Figure 7: Example of a Less Healthy Meal and Point
Total