Solutions 4 Health are pleased to announce that on the 1st January 2018 we launched the first artificial intelligence (AI) powered stop smoking coach named Bella. Bella uses knowledge from hundreds of experts, who have helped thousands of people stop smoking, to provide a personal, friendly, and expert service.
Bella is available on the App Store for people to download free of charge, ensuring everyone can have access to an expert stop smoking coach whenever they need. We aim to empower our already successful stop smoking services with the latest technology so our health care professionals can support more people to lead a smokefree life!
Bella will be there when the client need extra support and guidance, even at 2am when they need someone to chat to about their quit attempt. This means that when clients come back to see their stop smoking adviser, they are more likely to become smokefree for life! It also reflects our persistent desire to meaningfully innovate and deliver services that really do help individual people. Will Bella replace our existing stop smoking advisors? Very much not! We value the skills and experience of our staff and Bella can be used as an additional tool offering support outside of our advisors working hours. She is available to chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The process involves the client having a completely natural conversation with Bella (chatbot), who will take the user through the quit journey. Bella is non-judgemental, personable, and indispensable in helping someone quit smoking. Bella uses the knowledge we have, being the largest provider of stop smoking services in the UK and presents them to the client using motivational techniques. Bella will give information on types of medication available but will not facilitate the client receiving these.
Bella is able to support clients who are in the contemplation stage of quitting, quitting currently or even months or years into being smokefree. Anyone who is 17 plus is able to benefit from her ongoing support for as long as they want it. It is hoped those clients who have not traditionally engaged with stop smoking services will use Bella as a stepping stone to receiving additional support as it is widely acknowledged that you are 4 times more likely to quit with support from stop smoking services than by going it alone.
Bella is currently available for free download for iPhone users on the App Store and we hope to roll this out to Android devices after further development and testing. Find out more here.
