Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 3
Health Assistance for Immigrants
Till Plumbaum, Funda Klein-Ellinghaus, Anna Reeske,
Kristin Pelz and Frank Hopfgartner
Abstract
Our personal health should be one of our main concerns, but unfortunately,
due to modern lifestyle, far too many people ignore their own well-being. Conse-
quently, methodologies need to be developed that assist us in living a healthier life. In
this chapter, we present a health assistance system for immigrants. The system con-
sists of two parts: A health information system that allows users to search for health
information using natural language queries composed of multiple languages and a
prevention service that assists users in their cooking routine and motivates them to
perform frequent physical exercises. The information system uses NLP techniques to
understand the user query, matches it to a health ontology we developed, and offers
the user a comprehensive answer. The prevention service is embedded in a smart
home environment. We present the technical details of both systems and show a user
study to demonstrate that the system works well in providing highly relevant health
information.
Toward a Healthy Life
There were two things that Steven liked a lot about his work: Free coffee and the
view from the kitchen window. The office kitchen was in the thirteenth floor, the
coffee machine right next to the window. Indeed, it happened quite a few times that
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