aiqbench analysis
This study applies reinforcement learning to bridge clinical and wellness mental health interventions, revealing that RL-optimized sequences can deepen long-term engagement while preventing the burnout often seen with constant high-intensity support. The findings highlight a critical design trade-off: systems must determine when to reduce intervention intensity to sustain user health versus maintaining intensity to maximize immediate treatment gains. Ultimately, the research underscores the complexity of building coherent care journeys where benefits may only manifest after the active intervention period concludes.
Exploring Reinforcement Learning for Fluid Transitions Between Clinical Mental Healthcare and Everyday Wellness Support
arXiv:2606.06800v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Mental health struggles wax and wane, yet clinical and wellness interventions typically operate separately, causing frequent breakdowns at care transitions. We explore reinforcement learning (RL) as a means to build digital health systems that deliver clinical and wellness interventions proactively, as part of a coherent care journey. We ask: what complexities does designing such a system involve? We built a contextual bandit that dynamically selects journaling prompts from clinical and wellness repertoires to optimize for an overarching health goal (sustained journaling) and deployed it in a four-week exploratory study (N=38). We found that, first, many benefits of RL-optimized intervention sequences appeared only after interventions ended, raising the question: Should systems that offer coherent clinical-wellness care journeys include stepping-back periods? If so, when and how? Second, participants most engaged with RL-generated interventions deepened their engagement over time, while those most engaged with a constant intervention tended to burn out and drop out later. It raises the question: When should a system blending clinical and wellness interventions reduce intensity to prevent burnout in versus sustain it to maximize treatment gains?
Abstract:Mental health struggles wax and wane, yet clinical and wellness interventions typically operate separately, causing frequent breakdowns at care transitions. We explore reinforcement learning (RL) as a means to build digital health systems that deliver clinical and wellness interventions proactively, as part of a coherent care journey. We ask: what complexities does designing such a system involve? We built a contextual bandit that dynamically selects journaling prompts from clinical and wellness repertoires to optimize for an overarching health goal (sustained journaling) and deployed it in a four-week exploratory study (N=38). We found that, first, many benefits of RL-optimized intervention sequences appeared only after interventions ended, raising the question: Should systems that offer coherent clinical-wellness care journeys include stepping-back periods? If so, when and how? Second, participants most engaged with RL-generated interventions deepened their engagement over time, while those most engaged with a constant intervention tended to burn out and drop out later. It raises the question: When should a system blending clinical and wellness interventions reduce intensity to prevent burnout in versus sustain it to maximize treatment gains?
Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)
arXiv:2606.06800 [cs.HC]
(or arXiv:2606.06800v1 [cs.HC] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.06800 arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)
Full text under the publisher's open licence · 199 words
