A concept to empower self-management of psychophysiological wellbeing: preliminary user study experiences

In prevention of chronic diseases, health promotion and early interventions based on self-management should be emphasized. Mental health problems and stress cause a significant portion of healthcare costs, and also complicate the management of other chronic conditions. In addition to physical health, psychophysiological and social wellbeing should be equally promoted. Thus, we have previously designed and reported the P4Well or Pervasive Personal and PsychoPhysiological management of WELLness concept for working-age citizens. The concept supports the stress and recovery management on a daily basis through improved health management strategies, and combines psychological methods with personal health technologies. In this paper, we discuss the preliminary user study experiences of ongoing evaluations with two different user groups consisting of: 1) middle-aged men who are using the concept for managing their mental wellbeing or mild depression; and 2) entrepreneurs who are using the concept for coping with stress. Our results provide a preliminary assessment of the role and importance of experts, technologies, and peer-support in the concept.