YogiTherapy

Project Description:

Rheumatic diseases are complex autoimmune and inflammatory diseases that causes several difficulties for patients. One of the most common rheumatic diseases is spondylitis, an inflammatory arthritis that targets the spine and causes stiffness and bony growths along the spine, leading to immobility. The pain and stiffness in the lower back and the inflammation in other larger joints can interfere with daily activities and has a major impact on people’s quality of life.

Besides drug treatment options, patients with spondylitis should get physical therapy. One great complementary treatment is the combination of Yoga and physiotherapy, which results in a more holistic approach to the rehabilitation experience. Regular visits to physical therapists can be very beneficial, however this not only implies that the patient has to find his/her way to the therapist, but it also makes the patient dependent on the availability of the same one. Creating a solution that could provide patients different facilities to follow their treatment plan without the necessity of leaving the comfort of their own house, is not only a way of making it easier for them to stick to their assigned plan, but it also empowers the patients to have more autonomy and agency to create their own health.

Rheum-Yoga is a project to develop an attractive app solution for young Rheuma patients (spondylitis). With the app, patients can easily engage with their treatment from home. In the App patients will
(a) find Yoga video tutorials depending on their level and disease as well as yoga pose visualizations,
(b) learn how to do all exercises properly with help of pose-estimation,
(c) track their improvements,
(d) find educational and nutritional information,
(e) activate reminders for medication.
Additionally, all information will be saved, so that every time the patient has a medical appointment, the physician can easily check in the app history how is the therapy at home working for the patient and either decide to continue with it or make the correspondent changes.

Development Team: Can Sinsoysal, Minh Tam Truong, Obioma Nwosu, Maria Elena Gaytan Torres, Maria Segura Vargas, Soukaina Boughanem

Scrum Master: Ann-Kristin Seifer (M. Sc.), Marlies Nitschke (M. Sc.), Alzhraa Ahmed (M. Sc.)

Partner: Rheumatologie