Virtual personal assistant towards suicide prevention

Abstract

The Secretary of Health of Rio Grande do Sul communicates that causing the end of one's own life is among the main causes of death in Brazil, being suicide the fourth major cause of death among young Brazilians in the range of 15 to 29 years old. The government published the Agenda of Strategic Actions for Suicide Surveillance and Prevention of Suicide and Health Promotion in Brazil, which seeks to encourage and add new partners on the path of preventing this serious health problem. In this context, this paper aims at presenting a hybrid application for mobile devices that provide several materials to promote life, assistance and support to its users, cooperating actively in suicide prevention. Through research on health materials, was clear to comprehend the scenario in which the application was produced, and through interviews with health professionals, we defined resources and functionalities that provide specific support to users. Still, were defined the essential features of the application: periodically recommend motivating content; provide specific content to users; have an emergency mechanism with contacts of people nearby. As a result of all the research, we developed the application called Virtual Personal Assistant (VPA) and this one was evaluated by a health professional. As the suicide scenario is seen as something extremely serious, this paper seeks to support existing public initiatives and contribute to the prevention of this serious public health issue by applying technology as a promotional tool for life and suicide prevention.