DIGI:GREEN

Innovative prevention and rehabilitation concepts with natural health resources and digital health applications are the focus of the research project “DIGI:GREEN – Digital & Green Prevention and Rehabilitation” funded by the province of Salzburg. Teams from the Institute of Ecomedicine at Paracelsus Medical University (PMU), the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention (LBI-DHP) and the University Institute for Preventive and Rehabilitative Sports Medicine (UIS) in Salzburg are combining their expertise under the lead of the PMU.

The combination of digital and nature-based applications in the health sector could positively enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of prevention and rehabilitation measures. This potential medical added value will be investigated in this project. The geographical focus of DIGI:GREEN is on the alpine regions of Gasteiner Tal and Hohe Tauern National Park, where nature-based health applications and a corresponding health tourism infrastructure are already established. Digital elements are integrated in the form of mobile apps and interactive VR exergames (training with a playful context).

With its natural health resources and competencies in the field of digital health applications (LBI-DHP), sports medicine (UIS) and ecomedicine (PMU), the province of Salzburg has the potential to establish new digital and nature-based prevention and rehabilitation models: The LBI-DHP brings the technological basis to create the link between nature-based and digital health applications. The clinical know-how of the UIS in outpatient rehabilitation and workplace health promotion serves as a further link, bringing cardiorespiratory health into focus. From its many years of scientific activity in the field of ecomedicine and the establishment of the Ecomedicine Virtual Reality Physiology Lab, the PMU not only brings the methodological know-how for evidence-based research into the health effects of natural environments and virtual environments, but also creates synergies between the two core areas of the DIGI:GREEN project with its regional and international network.

The project volume amounts to almost 650,000 euros. The funds come from the funding program „Wissenschafts-/Innovationsstrategie WISS 2025, Forschung und technologische Entwicklung (FTE)“.