Digital & Green Prevention and Rehabilitation

Digi:Green is a research project funded by the state of Salzburg that explores innovative prevention and rehabilitation concepts combining natural health resources with digital health applications. The project brings together expertise 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 under the lead of the PMU.

Visit the Digi:Green project website | Read the PMU project announcement

Digi:Green: Digital & Green Prevention and Rehabilitation

Project Overview

The Digi:Green project investigates how 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 is at the core of the research initiative, with a geographical focus 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), creating a unique synergy between natural environments and digital health technologies.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

With its natural health resources and competencies across multiple disciplines, the province of Salzburg has the potential to establish new digital and nature-based prevention and rehabilitation models:

• The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Prevention (LBI-DHP) brings the technological basis to create the link between nature-based and digital health applications

• The clinical know-how of the University Institute for Preventive and Rehabilitative Sports Medicine (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 Paracelsus Medical University (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

Research Focus

The project explores how digital health technologies can complement and enhance nature-based health interventions, potentially offering new approaches to prevention and rehabilitation that are both effective and sustainable. By combining the restorative effects of natural environments with the engagement and monitoring capabilities of digital applications, Digi:Green aims to develop evidence-based models that could be implemented in healthcare settings.

Funding

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)” of the province of Salzburg.