“The focus should be on preventive healthcare rather than on treating as many diseases as possible”

What exactly do you mean by prevention?

Melin: I mean less the early detection that many of us associate with classical health check-ups, and more everything that helps to strengthen our health and prevent diseases from developing in the first place. That begins with exercise, healthy nutrition, restful and sufficient sleep, and the ability to manage stress – but also with education, good working conditions and social security. Prevention means shaping living conditions in such a way that health becomes possible at all. Yet that is hardly understood as a task of the healthcare system.

But one cannot really say that society lacks awareness of disease. Cancer is the illness Germans fear the most. What potential does prevention have in this area?

Melin: For cancer, it is assumed that around 40 per cent of cases could be prevented. What I always find important to add is this: conversely, that means 60 per cent cannot be prevented. Still, the proportion of preventable cancers remains considerable.

If the figures are so clear, why is the willingness to take preventive action so weak?

Melin: Because prevention is not an immediate experience. When I take a pill, I feel an effect. When I eat healthily or exercise, nothing much happens in the short term – except that I invest time, money and energy. That is true not only from an individual perspective, but also from the viewpoint of health insurers or political decision-makers. The relationships are complex, and the effect only becomes visible in the long run. That dampens motivation.

Does this require stronger external impulses?

Melin: On the one hand, we would need changes within the healthcare system itself – so that the actual goal becomes more health, not the treatment of as many illnesses as possible. That would amount to nothing less than a paradigm shift. 

If we jointly commit to this system goal, remuneration must also be linked to health gains – and not, as before, solely to the number of treatments and examinations carried out, even if these, as in the case of vaccinations or early detection measures, can of course contribute to maintaining health. 

Yet health is also shaped more broadly by living conditions – by education, housing, work, and the environment. If prevention is understood as broadly as we do at the Bosch Health Campus, many institutions would need to take action. Health must be part of all policy areas – according to the principle of “Health in All Policies”.

What does the situation look like in other countries?

Melin: All are facing the same challenge: people are getting older, chronic diseases are increasing, and healthcare professionals are becoming scarcer. But when it comes to awareness of the importance of prevention, others are in some respects well ahead of us. 

A good example is Scandinavia. In the Nordic countries, as early as 2019, numerous decision-makers from health organisations joined together in the Nordic Health 2030 initiative. Their goal is ambitious: in the long term, the money within the healthcare system should be spent equally on prevention and on the treatment of manifest diseases. 

In Germany, by contrast, preventive care is still regarded primarily as a private matter. But that means you reach those population groups least whose health is already poorest.

Which groups are those?

Melin: People living in precarious circumstances fall ill more often because they have less room for manoeuvre. Those working shifts, caring for relatives, or juggling several jobs have hardly any resources left to look after preventive health. Those who fear losing their jobs go to work even when ill. Chronic stress not only weakens the immune system but also affects decision-making. 

People under pressure are quicker to reach for unhealthy but momentarily relieving behaviours: fast food, too little sleep, smoking, alcohol. That has nothing to do with irrationality, but with being overwhelmed. And this sense of being overwhelmed is also reflected in how people handle health-related information. Quite rightly, one speaks in this context of an infodemic.

What does that mean?

Melin: We are constantly surrounded by health information, yet without orientation. Everywhere, tips, warnings and supposed miracle cures rain down on us. That does not generate knowledge but confusion. Social media accelerate this. Those who stir up fear or hope gain reach. 

So the problem is not too little information, but too little ability to assess it. This particularly affects people with lower levels of education. And older people, in general, have greater difficulties navigating the flood of information online. This is precisely where our platform Sundi comes in.

What is Sundi?

Melin: Sundi is a web-based prevention platform that supports people aged 55 and over in living healthier lives – especially those who are often not reached by conventional health programmes. It deals with everyday topics such as nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management and the use of addictive substances. Our aim is to empower people to take their wellbeing into their own hands.

Why does Sundi focus primarily on people between 55 and 70?

Melin: Because these are the years in which the course is set for how healthy one will remain in the decades to come. Many chronic diseases develop during exactly this period – often unnoticed. At the same time, this generation is far more digitally literate than one might think. It was important to us to create an offer that takes this target group seriously: in their everyday reality, with their questions and possibilities.

Who is behind the project?

Melin: Sundi is a joint initiative of the Bosch Health Campus in Stuttgart and the Charité in Berlin, in cooperation with researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. All three institutions represent high scientific and ethical standards. 

As partners, we share the goal of placing prevention and health promotion on a new, socially fairer basis. The Charité contributes its scientific and clinical expertise, the Karolinska Institute its international research competence, and we at the Bosch Health Campus focus on connecting care, science and social responsibility.

A European model project?

Melin: The name itself reflects its origin: “Sund” is Swedish and means “healthy”. Sundi is currently available in German and English. For 2026, the expansion into further languages is planned.

There are plenty of digital health services already. What makes Sundi different?

Melin: Sundi stands out through three key aspects. Firstly, it is a public-interest, trustworthy platform. We place the highest value on quality assurance: all content is drawn from verified scientific sources. Before publication, materials are approved by an editorial board and then edited to make them both comprehensible and action-oriented. 

Secondly, Sundi is much more strongly tailored to individual questions than previous platforms. Its core feature is our virtual health assistant. This chatbot is based on artificial intelligence but draws exclusively on verified content. Dialogue replaces instruction – learning happens through conversation, and users can ask their own personal questions.

And the third aspect?

Sundi: We do not merely provide information but also tools that support people directly in changing their behaviour. The step from knowledge to action is not easy. In addition to the information modules, Sundi therefore offers a goal-setting tool through which users can define and track their personal health goals.

How does this tool work?

Melin: It helps users turn vague intentions into clear, realistic goals. Many people say things like, “I want to exercise more.” That is well meant but too unspecific. We all know the pattern: we make a few resolutions at New Year, by February they begin to fade, and by summer they are forgotten. 

The goal-setting tool helps transform vague intentions into concrete plans – for instance: “I will go for a 30-minute walk on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.” The chatbot accompanies this process, reminding, motivating, and suggesting alternatives if something gets in the way. Step by step, a new routine emerges.

Why is knowledge transfer alone not enough?

Melin: Messages of fear – “You eat unhealthily, sleep badly and exercise too little” – usually lead to guilt, and therefore to resistance. Positive goals, by contrast, motivate. Experts from psychology, behavioural science and communication developed the concept together. Our aim is to empower people, not to lecture them.

How should Sundi develop in the coming years?

Melin: We see Sundi as a model project for what digital prevention could look like in the future – evidence-based, accessible, and socially fair. The next step is above all to make Sundi better known, especially among those groups who have so far benefited least from preventive health programmes: people with lower income or educational levels.

What does that mean for the future of digital health more broadly?

Melin: If we design digital tools in a way that strengthens people instead of overwhelming them, there is enormous potential in that. Sundi shows that technology can be used with empathy. It can make knowledge accessible, foster motivation, and build trust – provided it remains committed to the human being. 

Much has recently been said about digitalisation deepening social divides. With Sundi, we want to show that it can be otherwise: that digital offers can connect people, make knowledge accessible, and help reduce health inequalities.