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"None of us engage perfectly with technology when we're overwhelmed or stressed. You shouldn't build a system that requires perfect engagement in order to be useful."
- Ellie Gordon
Ellie spent 17 years building technology that improves people's lives. What pulled her into addiction and recovery was personal.
She has lost loved ones, helped friends through severe struggles, and worked through her own challenges.
Her hometown of Pittsburgh was hit hard by the opioid crisis, and she says that when you watch that happen to your community, you can't not help.
She kept coming back to a gap. Someone can have a great counselor, but they might spend an hour with a provider and the rest of the week alone with stress, cravings, and triggers.
A craving doesn't wait for the next appointment.
So her team built a platform that uses wearables to read heart rate, sleep, and movement. It can predict cravings up to four hours ahead.
When it spots rising risk, it sends a coping tool, a reminder of what motivates the person, or a way to reach their support network.
The team also designed it to work passively, because people in crisis don't open apps. In a VA usability study, every participant found it helpful alongside their treatment.
About half of her users are 60 or older, which she didn't expect.
Her view is that the system is great at responding to crises and weak at anticipating them. She's not trying to replace human care. She wants to make it more continuous, timely, and informed.
"Courage isn't certainty. Building and leading this company is the hardest thing I've done, because there are people depending on you and you have to make decisions in imperfect circumstances."
