Symptoms such as hot flashes, sleep disturbances, bleeding disorders, and concentration problems make everyday working life difficult for many women going through menopause, reducing their quality of life and affecting their long-term health. One in ten women give up their jobs, and many reduce their working hours or take early retirement. According to estimates, the economic damage in Germany amounts to over nine billion euros per year. The topic is taboo in society, and awareness of treatment options is low.

Health app accompanies, informs, and supports those affected

First, the consortium's researchers are conducting workshops with those affected to assess their needs. Based on this, they are developing an app with a data and knowledge platform and its own AI chatbot. On this basis, each user receives individually tailored knowledge modules and recommendations for alleviating their symptoms.

During a pilot phase, the acceptance and user-friendliness of the app will be evaluated. Feedback from users will be continuously incorporated into further development. This will ensure that the content is presented in a way that is understandable and practical for users. Access to information will also be significantly improved in this way. “Our goal is for women to be able to ideally strengthen their health literacy around perimenopause with the help of the app,” explains Dr. Theresa Ahrens, head of the Digital Health Engineering department at Fraunhofer IESE.  

With the app, the researchers want to address women who have little medical knowledge or who live in a social environment that has shown little interest in women's health to date. For these groups, the need for education is particularly high, and the app can greatly improve their individual quality of life.

Holistic improvement of women's health

With the consent of users, the data collected in the app will also be anonymized for use in scientific studies. This is because many aspects of menopause have not yet been sufficiently researched. The project therefore not only enables individuals to improve their quality of life, but also closes a gap in gender-specific research and improves medical care for women in the long term.

“We are pursuing a comprehensive approach by combining technical innovations in AI with the strengthening of health literacy,” emphasizes Dr. Theresa Ahrens. “With the new AI chatbot and the overall concept of the app, we are not only improving women's individual health literacy, but also bringing about lasting changes in the world of work and in healthcare.”

Fraunhofer IESE is responsible for the technical development of the app and the AI models in the PETRA project. FEMNA provides expertise in women's health and a care perspective in the project. The social science support and co-creation processes are carried out by the Junior Professorship for Health and E-Health at Ruhr University Bochum and the Social Research Center at Dortmund Technical University. The Berlin Institute of Health at Charité contributes extensive experience with interoperable data standards such as FHIR and SNOMED and is responsible for the structured collection of research data.