Effectiveness of AI-Supported Holistic Health Management Through PREVERY's Digital Health Promotion and Prevention Program: A Prospective Before-and-After Observational Study

Background: There is an increasing strain on our healthcare system due to rising numbers of diseases related to chronic stress. One approach to combat these stress-related complaints is health coaching. However, personal health coaching is expensive and time costly, while digital offers can complement the already existing health coaching strategies. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of an AI-supported, digital health and prevention program. Methods: 253 participants were included in the study, with 113 being analyzed eventually. General stress experience and self-efficacy were assessed at baseline (T1), after six weeks (T2), and three months after the interventional phase (T3) via a Numerical Analog Scale (NAS) with values ranging from 0 to 10, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the PsyCap Scale (CPC). Results: A significant time effect was observed for CPC and PSS. CPC increased significantly from T1 to T2 and T3 and remained stable between T2 and T3, while PSS decreased from T1 to T2 and increased again by T3. All pairwise comparisons were significant. There were also significant time effects for self-reported current health status, health literacy, health awareness, and self-efficacy, with values at T3 being higher than at T1 (for health awareness, this was already evident at T2; for self-efficacy, this was additionally evident between T2 and T3), while no time effect was found for motivation. Conclusion: PREVERY seems to be an effective prevention program to increase psychological capital together with self-reported current health status, health awareness, health literacy, and self-efficacy, while at the same time reducing perceived stress.