Skip to content
The Anthology of Bright Spots
  • Prevention
  • Workplace Wellness
  • Healthcare Teams of the Future
  • Insights
    • Prevention Insights
    • Workplace Wellness Insights
    • Healthcare Teams of the Future Insights
  • About
    • What is the Anthology?
    • Our Expert Panel
    • Anthology Contributors
    • Methods
    • About the Authors
    • Contact

Lark

In Prevention

  • Lark is an app-based (iOS and Android) DPP entirely powered by artificial intelligence, meaning users can get real-time feedback without waiting for a coach.
  • A simple red-yellow-green system makes food logging simple and convenient for users.
  • Lark markets both to individual users in addition to employers, increasing its availability to the general public.
  • Cost for individual users is $19.99/month, which is less expensive than comparable digital DPPs with real-life coaches.
Lark’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) has drawn a good deal of attention, and for good reason. AI holds the promise of combining the personalized feedback, motivation, and guidance of one-on-one coaching, but the convenience, rapid responses, and low-cost scalability of automation.
  • Summary
  • Why It Stands Out

Summary

Lark is an app-based Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) with the unique feature of being almost entirely automated, based on artificial intelligence that augments a small team of specialized human coaches.[1] This automation means that users can receive instant feedback at any time, simply by texting their nutrition and physical activity, or connected scale information to their automated coach. Lark also features an option for logging meals based on a straightforward three-color system (red, yellow, and green, like a stoplight), which has the potential to reduce the burden of logging, potentially increasing retention among users who might otherwise find logging to be too much of a hassle. Likely because it uses artificial intelligence instead of live coaches, Lark’s weight loss offering costs $19.99 per month for individual users, somewhat less than comparable programs. Its DPP costs $31.60 per month and includes a digital smart scale. Yes Health, the other major app-based DPP that markets directly to individuals, for example, has live coaches available 14 hours per day, but costs $39 per month for the first 4 months, and then $15 per month for the maintenance program thereafter.[2] Lark also works with healthcare providers, meaning it can compete in that market with other programs like Omada.

Why It Stands Out

Lark’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) has drawn a good deal of attention, and for good reason. AI holds the promise of combining the personalized feedback, motivation, and guidance of one-on-one coaching, but the convenience, rapid responses, and low-cost scalability of automation. Lark has been named one of the “10 Best Apps of 2015” by Apple, and one of Business Insider’s “10 Most Innovative Apps in the World.” While Lark has not yet published any outcomes, its curriculum is approved by the CDC’s Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program (DPRP), so we are eager to see whether it can demonstrate comparable results from AI to those that can be achieved by live coaches.

  1. “Lark,” Lark, 2016, http://www.lark.com.
  2. “Yes Health,” Yes Health, 2016, https://www.yeshealth.com.

More Programs in Prevention

Shape Up Somerville

Initially a childhood obesity intervention, Shape-Up Somerville has become a leading example of community health promotion through environmental change. The program’s Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methods mean that community members define their greatest needs and therefore shape program design. Shape-Up Somerville has strong partnerships with public, private, and non-profit partners throughout the community. Somerville …

Mass in Motion

Mass in Motion is a comprehensive health promotion program that encourages physical activity and healthy eating throughout Massachusetts. The initiative’s multi-setting approach includes schools, childcare centers, businesses, municipalities/communities, and more. Mass in Motion’s extensive public-private partnerships allow for state-sponsored engagement of community partners and stakeholders. Efforts target people at locations where they are easily reached, …

Noom

Noom is a digital (app for iOS and Android) DPP program featuring personal guidance from live coaches. Users can choose plans focused on distinct goals, including weight loss, diabetes prevention, and – in the near future – hypertension. Noom claims an average weight loss of 18 pounds, with significant loss sustained at 4 years. The …

View All Programs In Prevention

Mountain View, CA

https://www.lark.com/dpp-diabetes-prevention-program

Lark

Behavior Change, DPP Translation, Online/App-Based/Digital

Innovator

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • email

Insights

Prevention presents a massive opportunity to save both lives and money. In the United States, the direct costs of diabetes, not counting lost productivity and early death or disability, is nearing $200 billion per year, and growing fast.
  1. Prevention needs to start before people develop prediabetes. Comprehensive interventions begin in childhood or even before birth
    Read More
  2. Peer education and support help people engage with, and even accept, interventions. Successful programs regularly involve families and friends
    Read More
  3. Collaboration is happening, and people want more
    Read More

Prevention

View All Insights

Find Programs

Connect

facebook icon
twitter icon
linkedin icon
email icon

Join Our Email List!

Download the full Anthology of Bright Spots booklet as a PDF.

DOWNLOAD PDF

Contact

The diaTribe Foundation
776 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
USA

Contact us

© 2021 The diaTribe Foundation.
Site by Collage Creative.