Research Project

ETHEREAL: Personalised Mental Health Disorder Prevention in Autistic Adolescents

ABSTRACT
Empowering Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) adolescents to self-control the environmental factors to prevent their vulnerable mental health from escalating to a disease.

Where: international
Challenge
Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) account for 77% disease burden in Europe. Among them, mental health disorders (MHDs) have a two-way relationship with the other NCDs, since they can either trigger other NCDs or be triggered by them, creating a vicious cycle. MHD is the highest ranked NCD in ASD adolescents. Currently, there is no proven interventions for preventing MHD in an ASD adolescent.
Approach
The major risk factors are in-grained in the adolescents biological process. Personalisation done at biological level is the key to prevent their already vulnerable mental states from transitioning to an MHD. Recent research showed how environmental factors can alter gene expressions that lead to an MHD through Epigenetic-Genetic/metabolomic-Mental health process. By using quantitative modelling of this process, ETHEREAL develops a personalised, flexible, single service delivery model that empowers an ASD adolescent to self-control their environmental factors to prevent their mental health making transition to an MHD.
Digital Ecosystem
Solution
Digital Ecosystem
Telemonitoring mobile app analyses and collects vital signs, gathered from sensors, from of ASD adolescents and info about environmental factors, provided by parents and schools through questionnaire. The monitoring platform aims at supporting the effectiveness of interventions within the community of stakeholders that have an impact on adolescents' lives, including researchers, clinicians and educators. Additionally, the platform supports scientific research community by enabling the collection of data on ASD patients' population. Engineering is responsible for the design and development of the technological infrastructure that will collect data according to standard HL7 FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) format for the creation of AI models​. The project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe programme.
Results

Better life quality

Large quantity of data analysis in ASD adolescents

Identification of environmental factors influencing MHDs

Markets
Ecosystems

Impacts

Technologies

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