Smart assistants could help combat opioid crisis

For patients suffering with chronic pain, relief could soon be found as close as their nearest smart assistant.

Researchers at Penn State are developing a way to deliver on-demand, guided mindfulness practices via Amazon Alexa to patients experiencing chronic pain. Through their method, a smart assistant will provide Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) practices to individuals in their homes. MBSR is a non-addictive, long-term pain-management alternative to opioid pain medication.

“In particular with opioid addiction, there has been quite a bit of progress in coming up with methods that are non-addictive, and mindfulness is one of them,” said Saeed Abdullah, assistant professor of information sciences and technology and the primary investigator on the project.

While MBSR techniques have proven effective for chronic pain management and improving a patient’s quality of life, long-term adherence to these interventions can be…