AllSan-IT is a partnership between Allergo-Consult and E R Health Consultancy that has been formed to develop, evaluate, update and exploit automated and adaptive tools for health protection, health promotion and health education, both public domain and commercial tools.

The partnership contains 25+ years of experience in health education and indoor pollutants (including exposure modelling) respectively. The mission of AllSan-IT is individualized education. Research needed to develop the products is left to Allergo-Consult, and 'non-digitized' health education to E R Health Consultancy.

Below you may find some of the projects AllSan-IT is currently engaged in:

1: Digitized Health Education

A Ph.D. project at Eindhoven University of Technology on the effect of health education on household behaviour, such as ventilation or cleaning, against allergen exposure causing asthma in small children, was not successful in diminishing disease. Households received monthly coaching to no avail. More intensive guidance by a human expert was not considered possible. A need exists for technology that makes healthy behaviour self-evident.

Health Education is difficult when it has to go against current trends. A paternalistic or maternalistic treatment of the consumer is hopelessly old-fashioned, and consumers have a short memory. Therefor situated and adaptive, automated coaches will fulfil health education in the 21^st century, especially when it concerns lifestyle characteristics and the use of the living environment. It is our aim to develop coaches for the total area of Europe.

A first try is AllerSan, an automated coach for persons with asthma, allergy or COPD, and public domain. To assess the feasibility of this development a pilot project (HV-guide) has been devised.  This pilot concerns the coaching of heating and ventilation in dwellings inhabited by persons with an allergy for inhalation allergens or a hyperreactivity for indoor irritants. It is based on earlier models partly developed at the TUE.  An  example considers the bedroom.

Members of the European Federation of Asthma and Allergy Associations (EFA) from 12 different European countries as well as contacts in other European States expressed their interest in the AllerSan programme. More volunteers are welcome. Partners in the program originate from Italy, Hungary as well as the Netherlands.  For AllerSan co-financing has been requested within the 5th framework of the European Union. The pilot is partly financed by the pharmaceutical industry.

Eventually we hope to design an exceptionally consumer-friendly usere-interface. Dr Judith Masthoff developed such an interface and earned with it the SNS Price for the best Ph.D. thesis at the TUE in 1997. Subsequently commercial version of AllerSan are foreseen for architects, building project developpers and community health services. However, the original AllerSan will remain Public Domain.

2: Health and Sustainable Buildings

As to environmental costs, a computer model was developed by  NIBE (Nederlands Instituut voor Bouwbiologie BV, Naarden). Within this framework we are looking for possibilities to start SuSan (Sustainable and Sanatary), a project to enlarge this model with related disease costs of production and installation of building and installation products, and the related disease probability and cost for users of the building. SuSan should enable a project developer to classify buildings as to health and environmental costs, but also make it possible to realise buildings suitable for certain customers, e.g. older persons needing extra safe cold and warm water systems, or environmentalists with asthmatic children in the family.

3: Biowar
A special project has been baptised 'Silent Biowar'. It is a computer game in development, and Public Domain. Computer games are great tools for learning skills. Our aim is to let you experience how difficult or easy it is to allow an epidemic to run out of hand. Scientific base of the content of our game are the Health Classification of Buildings (GCW = GezondheidsClassificatie van Woningen) and the Health Classification of Nature types (GCN = Gezondheidsclassificatie van Natuurtypen). GCW describes the disease risks of indoor environments, while GCN concerns the direct outdoor environment in residential areas. To make these health classifications operational in education and policy, epidemiological and ecological models of the disease and biotic agents must be included.

We chose malaria risk as a pilot. In the first draft of the Silent-Biowar game an alien force has observed the green planet for almost 200 years. They concluded that humans are aggressive, much to their own annoyance. The aliens decide to help the humans. From their observations it has become clear that near brackish water a high number of humans are quite and peaceful, laying prostrate and not fighting. They further observed that environmentalists are active in increasing the brackish water area, presumably to bring more quietness to their fellow humans. However, it might be feared that medics become active in reversing the situation. Aliens studied and unravelled all cycles influencing the quietness (malaria) around brackish waters. >From 2000 until 2050 they help humans to their own good by penetrating environmental organisations and health services. Players of the game are each such a helping alien.

The Silent Biowar project is in urgent need of volunteers wanting to take part in the programming of the public domain game.

3. References
J.E.M.H. van Bronswijk, G. Pauli (eds) 1996. An update on long lasting mite avoidance. Dwelling construction. Humidity management. Cleaning. GuT, Aachen, ISBN3-00-000896-9

M. Haas 1997. TWIN-model. Milieu Classificatie-model Bouw. Een bijdrage tot een wetenschappelijke benadering van het keuzedilemma voor duurzame bouwmaterialen, -producten en -constructies, rekening houdend met een volledige levenscyclus, in de vorm van de ontwikkeling van een beoordelingsmodel. Ph.D. Thesis TUE, September 8, 1997

A.M.T. van Lynden-van Nes 1999. Effective mite allergen avoidance in households with asthmatic children. Clinical, technical and behavioral aspects. PhD Thesis, TUE

J. Masthoff 1997. An Agent-Based Interactive Instruction System. Ph.D. Thesis TUE, January 15, 1997