2025 Presenters
Safeguard Mental Health: Using Multimodal Foundation Model (MFM)—Based Generative AI for Digital Social Cognitive Training to Reduce Social Isolation in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment
Presented by Yanjing Liang, 2nd-year PhD in Nursing Science student and de Tornyay Center predoctoral scholar, & Dr. Jingyi Li, Assistant Professor (UW Tacoma School of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership)
Description: With the aging global population, social isolation has emerged as a significant concern for older adults, impacting their physical and mental health. Physical restrictions, retirement, loss of loved ones, or technological barriers often limit people’s chances for social interaction as they age. Prolonged social isolation can cause depression, cognitive decline, and even physical health issues. Mild cognitive impairment is a condition with slight but noticeable declines in cognitive function, including memory and thinking abilities. Older adults with mild cognitive impairment may still be able to do daily tasks independently, but it can be hard for them to maintain social connections because of difficulties in communication, emotional interpretation, and cognitive processing, which may exacerbate social isolation feeling even accelerate cognitive decline. Social cognitive training is a method to help individuals better interpret and respond to social cues. It has been demonstrated to increase social engagement and well-being. Our project aims to transform support for older adults with mild cognitive impairment by introducing the AI-powered digital social cognitive training platform based on the Multimodal Foundation Model. This advanced technology offers engaging, tailored, and user-friendly methods for older adults to maintain independence, reduce social isolation, enhance social cognition, and boost mental health. The AI-powered Digital Social Cognitive Training Project： Our project is based on Multimodal Foundation Models, which use text, pictures, and speech to provide adaptive and context-aware interactions. This innovative technology enables us to mimic realistic social events and deliver individualized feedback to users, delivering an effective and interesting training experience. Also, this project could extend to reminiscence therapy to use clients’ memorable photos to conduct digital cognitive training. Furthermore, by simulating realistic social scenarios, we believe that this project could mimic virtual companions to reduce loneliness in older adults. Feasibility and Call to Action: Our multidisciplinary team is an experienced and technically mature team, a collection of researchers and technicians from nursing, biomedical informatics, social work, and computer science. We have previously developed AI-powered tools that have preliminarily demonstrated usability and effectiveness in some populations. We are expanding our expertise to address the needs of older adults to maintain mental health. With your support, we are confident in not only developing a solution that fills an important gap but also empowering our clients to live a better life!
Breaking Barriers in Tuberculosis Care: How AI and Mental Health Integration Can Revolutionize Treatment
Presented by Dr. Sarah Iribarren, Associate Professor (UW School of Nursing Department of Biobehavioral Nursing & Health Informatics) Charles Kwanin & Yvette Rodriguez
Description: Tuberculosis (TB) continues to claim more lives annually than any other infectious disease, surpassing both HIV and malaria combined. Despite being preventable and curable, TB remains a significant global health challenge, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where limited access to healthcare, high patient-to-provider ratios, and a lack of mental health services hinder effective treatment and support. TB is more than a physical illness; it profoundly impacts mental health. People with TB are nearly 3.7 times more likely to develop clinical depression compared to those without the disease. Nearly 45% of people with TB experience depression, and an additional 34% struggle with other mental health disorders. These challenges arise from a combination of biological, social, and psychological factors including inflammation, immunosuppression, treatment side effects, poverty, stigma, and disruptions to daily life. Compounding the issue, TB stigma remains a significant barrier to global efforts to end the disease. The interplay between TB and mental health drastically worsens treatment outcomes. Individuals with TB and mental health conditions are: 4 times more likely to experience poor treatment outcomes 9 times more likely to be lost to follow-up, and 3 times more likely to die during treatment These consequences often lead to treatment delays, drug resistance, ongoing transmission of TB, disability, and recurrent infections. Yet, despite the critical need for mental health services, they remain scarce in LMICs, leaving patients without the support they need to recover. But what if cutting-edge technology could help transform TB care? Enter the Tuberculosis-Mental Health Integration (TB-MHI) project, a new initiative combining artificial intelligence (AI) with mental health support to deliver a holistic and innovative solution for TB management. The project will integrate a specialized Large Language Model (LLM) into a digital adherence technology (DAT) enhancing communication and providing much-needed mental health resources to improve treatment outcomes and patient well-being. A Game-Changing Solution The TB-MHI project offers an innovative solution: integrating an LLM-powered tool into a DAT to bridge the gap in healthcare access and mental health support. The AI-powered model will operate within a “human-in-the-loop” framework, complementing healthcare workers by handling routine communication with patients while providing personalized support and resources. Here’s how the AI-powered tool will transform TB care: Mental Health Integration: Unlike traditional DATs, this intervention will include evidence-based mental health strategies, addressing both the physical and emotional challenges of TB care. Personalized Patient Support: The AI system will provide tailored motivational messages, behavioral change strategies, and stress-reduction techniques to address the unique needs of each patient. Combating Stigma: The AI tool will use storytelling to share culturally relevant narratives of resilience, reducing isolation and stigma around TB and mental health. Education and Empowerment: Many TB patients struggle to understand their disease and treatment due to limited health literacy. By delivering clear, accessible explanations about TB and its treatment, the AI empowers patients to actively engage in their care. Reducing Healthcare Worker Burden: The tool will manage routine patient interactions, freeing healthcare workers to focus on complex cases. Tailored for the Americas Region The TB-MHI project focuses on addressing the dual burden of TB and mental health challenges in the Americas, where TB remains a significant public health threat. By collaborating with community organizations, civil society groups, and TB survivors, the project ensures culturally tailored solutions that resonate with local communities. Key project components include: Development of a Spanish-Language Mental Health Support Tool.
Gastrointestinal Ostomy Wellness (GLOW) Adventure Camp
Presented by Dr. Kendra Kamp, Assistant Professor (UW School of Nursing Department of Biobehavioral Nursing & Health Informatics). Dr. Caeli Malloy, Fellow (UAW Postdoc) of Biobehavioral Nursing & Health Informatics.
Description: Approximately 1 million people in the United States require gastrointestinal (GI) surgery which subsequently leads to a life-altering fecal ostomy (a bowel opening in the abdomen to allow stool to pass from the large or small intestines). Living with an ostomy impacts every aspect of an individual’s life and health. Additionally, this surgery also requires individuals to adapt to living with a new disability and managing a new and complex prosthetic (ostomy pouching device) that must be worn at all times to store stool and protect their skin. While these surgeries are lifesaving, individuals living with an ostomy (ostomates) often experience difficulty with psychosocial adaptation, are at risk for social isolation, and have higher rates of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, ostomies are highly stigmatized and ostomates often feel they must keep their ostomy hidden. Individuals with fecal ostomies are historically underserved, and few interventions exist that address the unique needs of ostomates and there is limited access to ostomy trained healthcare providers such as certified ostomy nurses. There is an urgent need for the development and testing of novel whole person health interventions for those with fecal ostomies to address the current gaps in care. Adults ostomates often experience social isolation accompanied by shame and embarrassment and difficulties adjusting to body changes but also look forward to independence and to improved health. They also worry about disclosing their disability to friends and potential romantic and sexual partners. Additionally, ostomates have consistently reported the importance of receiving advice from those with lived experience of stoma surgery. Social connectedness is vital for ostomates. In the general population social connectedness reduces depressive symptom and improves physical health. However, social connectedness interventions are nearly non-existent for adult ostomates. We propose developing a novel adventure camp focused on increasing social connectedness and well-being with the ultimate goal of reducing anxiety and depression. The adventure camp will provide a unique opportunity for ostomates to gather together in a camp setting to learn about ostomy management, build social connection, and develop self-management skills. Our team has lots of ideas for how to make an adventure camp a fun, meaningful opportunity. For instance, many individuals are worried about going swimming with an ostomy bag, so one activity may involve water such as swimming or kayaking. We will address any concerns people may have, learn about how to engage in water activities with an ostomy, and then try it out! However, we need to further develop these ideas and co-create the camp. We are seeking Dawg Tank Funds so that we can develop the adventure camp with ostomates using human-centered design principles. Our aim is to develop an adventure camp for adults with fecal ostomies with a focus on fostering social connectedness and well-being. Recruitment. We will recruit adults with fecal ostomies from the University of Washington Medical Center. Potential patients will be identified by their healthcare providers who will refer them to the study. Participants will be included if they: a) have a fecal ostomy placed within the past 5 years; b) are aged 18-50; and c) are able to read and write in English. Healthcare providers will be recruited including gastroenterologists, surgeons, ostomy nurses, psychologists, and dieticians. Healthcare providers will be eligible if they care for at least 5 patients with a fecal ostomy each month. Sample Size. To conduct human-centered design approaches, we will undergo 3 iterative phases with ~6 participants per phase (total ~18 participants). This sample size enables us to have rapid prototyping and feedback sessions to iteratively change protocols and content in response to patient needs and desires.