Recovery Bot

Helping Drug Addicts Manage Their Path Towards Recovery

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To Access: Download Expo on your device and then open this link: http://bit.ly/recoverybotdemo. Our mobile app can be publicly accessed through this link.

Inspiration

Over 22 million Americans today struggle with an alcohol or drug addiction. More than 130 people every day in the US die from drug overdoses, and this number is only expected to rise. To address this massive public health crisis, we created a solution that will reduce drug related deaths, strengthen support systems among addicts, and increase the rate of recovery at an individual level.

What it does

Recovery Bot directly addresses the three major aspects of addiction intervention: emotional, mental, and physical needs. Through Recovery Bot, a user can request a conversation from a loved one, mental health specialist, or the National Drug Helpline regarding their addiction. Through Recovery Bot, a user can have a personalized, one-on-one conversation with a private and anonymous Chat Bot. We have trained Chat Bot responses to mimic the style most addiction therapists use with clients, and we have also trained the Chat Bot to provide cognitive behavioral exercises catered towards a user's history and substance. Recovery Bot also monitors the heart rate of a user on a fitbit and sends notifications to loved ones if a user's heart rate dramatically increases, a common sign of withdrawal.

How I built it

We used react native and xcode to build the app. We used fitbit ionic to build the heart rate monitor. We used Microsoft Azure's language sentiment and language analytics to create a chat bot that can produce and respond to content in a human-like way. We used twilio to connect users with the contacts they inputted on the app and the National Drug Hotline. We also used twilio to send messages to loved ones if a user experiences extremely high heart rate levels.

Challenges I ran into

We had issues with setting up the ECG heart monitor graphic on the app home screen and working with the fitbit. We also had to do an extensive amount of research on cognitive behavioral therapy because we wanted to make the Chat Bot's dialogue as accurate as possible. We also had some issues initially with connecting the Chat Bot to the app.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We are incredibly proud of our Chat Bot and our fitbit heart monitor. These two unique features have the potential to de-stigmatize addiction and save lives.

What I learned

Fitbit Ionic, Microsoft Azure Natural Language Processing, Twilio, Expo. We also learned more about cognitive behavioral therapy, addiction therapy, and the relapse and withdrawal process.

What's next for Recovery Bot

Creating more dialogue for Chat Bot and also making the heart monitor detect irregular heart rates (another common withdrawal symptom)

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