Digitalization and AI

The digital transformation is increasingly shaping healthcare. Digital health applications and artificial intelligence (AI) are already part of everyday life for many patients and will have a major impact on future healthcare. Integrative Medicine is likewise challenged to actively engage with these developments and to integrate new technologies into existing care models in a meaningful, responsible, and patient-centred way.

Access to high-quality, usable, and interoperable data is essential for Integrative Medicine. AI systems can only recommend therapeutic options based on the data on which they have been trained. If integrative medicine data are missing or not available in compatible formats, future algorithms will fail to consider integrative treatment approaches.

In our research, we evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of digital interventions in order to build evidence for patient-centred, integrative care in an increasingly digital society. The ICanSelfCare studies, for example, focus on online training programmes in acupressure and mindfulness for cancer patients and examine their effects on common and burdensome symptoms such as fatigue and sleep disturbances.

In addition, we investigate patient preferences, the therapeutic relationship, adherence, and engagement in the context of digital interventions, aiming to better understand how digital formats are perceived and used.

Through our projects, we contribute to actively positioning complementary and integrative medicine within the digital future of healthcare. Our goal is to combine technological innovation with scientific evidence, ethical responsibility, and patient-centred care - ensuring that digitalization and AI create new opportunities for Integrative Medicine rather than marginalizing it.