This was part of
Advances in Quantitative Medical Care
Reinforcement Learning for Digital Health Interventions in the Dyadic Setting
Susan Murphy, Harvard University, Boston
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Abstract: We present our ongoing work on the development of an online reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm for dyadic digital intervention settings in which the task for the RL algorithm is to assist the target person with a difficult illness be adherent to behavioral activities. To achieve this goal the RL algorithm will not only deliver digital interventions to the target person but also deliver interventions to assist the carepartner to manage caregiving burden and help the two individuals improve their relationship. That is, different RL components target different elements of the dyad. The RL algorithm is a multi-agent RL algorithm in which the 3 agents make decisions on the 3 elements of the dyad. We incorporate domain knowledge in the form of approximate causal directed acyclic graphs to speed up online learning in this sparse data setting. This work is motivated by our development of the online ADAPTS-HCT multi-agent RL algorithm, designed to improve medication adherence by young adults who have undergone a blood and bone marrow transplant. The online RL algorithm will be deployed in summer 2026.