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Schläpfer S, Schneider F, Santhanam P, Eicher M, Kowatsch T, Witt CM, Barth J. Engagement With a Relaxation and Mindfulness Mobile App Among People With Cancer: Exploratory Analysis of Use Data and Self-Reports From a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Cancer 2024; 10:e52386. [PMID: 38819907 DOI: 10.2196/52386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mobile health (mHealth) apps offer unique opportunities to support self-care and behavior change, but poor user engagement limits their effectiveness. This is particularly true for fully automated mHealth apps without any human support. Human support in mHealth apps is associated with better engagement but at the cost of reduced scalability. OBJECTIVE This work aimed to (1) describe the theory-informed development of a fully automated relaxation and mindfulness app to reduce distress in people with cancer (CanRelax app 2.0), (2) describe engagement with the app on multiple levels within a fully automated randomized controlled trial over 10 weeks, and (3) examine whether engagement was related to user characteristics. METHODS The CanRelax app 2.0 was developed in iterative processes involving input from people with cancer and relevant experts. The app includes evidence-based relaxation exercises, personalized weekly coaching sessions with a rule-based conversational agent, 39 self-enactable behavior change techniques, a self-monitoring dashboard with gamification elements, highly tailored reminder notifications, an educational video clip, and personalized in-app letters. For the larger study, German-speaking adults diagnosed with cancer within the last 5 years were recruited via the web in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. Engagement was analyzed in a sample of 100 study participants with multiple measures on a micro level (completed coaching sessions, relaxation exercises practiced with the app, and feedback on the app) and a macro level (relaxation exercises practiced without the app and self-efficacy toward self-set weekly relaxation goals). RESULTS In week 10, a total of 62% (62/100) of the participants were actively using the CanRelax app 2.0. No associations were identified between engagement and level of distress at baseline, sex assigned at birth, educational attainment, or age. At the micro level, 71.88% (3520/4897) of all relaxation exercises and 714 coaching sessions were completed in the app, and all participants who provided feedback (52/100, 52%) expressed positive app experiences. At the macro level, 28.12% (1377/4897) of relaxation exercises were completed without the app, and participants' self-efficacy remained stable at a high level. At the same time, participants raised their weekly relaxation goals, which indicates a potential relative increase in self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS The CanRelax app 2.0 achieved promising engagement even though it provided no human support. Fully automated social components might have compensated for the lack of human involvement and should be investigated further. More than one-quarter (1377/4897, 28.12%) of all relaxation exercises were practiced without the app, highlighting the importance of assessing engagement on multiple levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonja Schläpfer
- Institute for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Fabian Schneider
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Prabhakaran Santhanam
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Manuela Eicher
- Institute of Higher Education and Research in Healthcare, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne and Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Tobias Kowatsch
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- School of Medicine, University of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland
| | - Claudia M Witt
- Institute for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jürgen Barth
- Institute for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Ollier J, Suryapalli P, Fleisch E, von Wangenheim F, Mair JL, Salamanca-Sanabria A, Kowatsch T. Can digital health researchers make a difference during the pandemic? Results of the single-arm, chatbot-led Elena+: Care for COVID-19 interventional study. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1185702. [PMID: 37693712 PMCID: PMC10485275 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1185702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The current paper details findings from Elena+: Care for COVID-19, an app developed to tackle the collateral damage of lockdowns and social distancing, by offering pandemic lifestyle coaching across seven health areas: anxiety, loneliness, mental resources, sleep, diet and nutrition, physical activity, and COVID-19 information. Methods The Elena+ app functions as a single-arm interventional study, with participants recruited predominantly via social media. We used paired samples T-tests and within subjects ANOVA to examine changes in health outcome assessments and user experience evaluations over time. To investigate the mediating role of behavioral activation (i.e., users setting behavioral intentions and reporting actual behaviors) we use mixed-effect regression models. Free-text entries were analyzed qualitatively. Results Results show strong demand for publicly available lifestyle coaching during the pandemic, with total downloads (N = 7'135) and 55.8% of downloaders opening the app (n = 3,928) with 9.8% completing at least one subtopic (n = 698). Greatest areas of health vulnerability as assessed with screening measures were physical activity with 62% (n = 1,000) and anxiety with 46.5% (n = 760). The app was effective in the treatment of mental health; with a significant decrease in depression between first (14 days), second (28 days), and third (42 days) assessments: F2,38 = 7.01, p = 0.003, with a large effect size (η2G = 0.14), and anxiety between first and second assessments: t54 = 3.7, p = <0.001 with a medium effect size (Cohen d = 0.499). Those that followed the coaching program increased in net promoter score between the first and second assessment: t36 = 2.08, p = 0.045 with a small to medium effect size (Cohen d = 0.342). Mediation analyses showed that while increasing number of subtopics completed increased behavioral activation (i.e., match between behavioral intentions and self-reported actual behaviors), behavioral activation did not mediate the relationship to improvements in health outcome assessments. Conclusions Findings show that: (i) there is public demand for chatbot led digital coaching, (ii) such tools can be effective in delivering treatment success, and (iii) they are highly valued by their long-term user base. As the current intervention was developed at rapid speed to meet the emergency pandemic context, the future looks bright for other public health focused chatbot-led digital health interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Ollier
- Mobiliar Lab for Analytics, Chair of Technology Marketing, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Pavani Suryapalli
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Institute of Technology Management, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
| | - Elgar Fleisch
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Institute of Technology Management, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Chair of Information Management, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Future Health Technologies, Singapore-ETH Centre, Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Florian von Wangenheim
- Mobiliar Lab for Analytics, Chair of Technology Marketing, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Chair of Information Management, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Future Health Technologies, Singapore-ETH Centre, Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Jacqueline Louise Mair
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Chair of Information Management, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Future Health Technologies, Singapore-ETH Centre, Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, Singapore
- Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Alicia Salamanca-Sanabria
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Tobias Kowatsch
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Chair of Information Management, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Future Health Technologies, Singapore-ETH Centre, Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE), Singapore, Singapore
- Institute for Implementation Science in Health Care, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- School of Medicine, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
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Shan Y, Ji M, Xie W, Qian X, Li R, Zhang X, Hao T. Language Use in Conversational Agent-Based Health Communication: Systematic Review. J Med Internet Res 2022; 24:e37403. [PMID: 35802407 PMCID: PMC9308072 DOI: 10.2196/37403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2022] [Accepted: 06/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Given the growing significance of conversational agents (CAs), researchers have conducted a plethora of relevant studies on various technology- and usability-oriented issues. However, few investigations focus on language use in CA-based health communication to examine its influence on the user perception of CAs and their role in delivering health care services. Objective This review aims to present the language use of CAs in health care to identify the achievements made and breakthroughs to be realized to inform researchers and more specifically CA designers. Methods This review was conducted by following the protocols of the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2020 statement. We first designed the search strategy according to the research aim and then performed the keyword searches in PubMed and ProQuest databases for retrieving relevant publications (n=179). Subsequently, 3 researchers screened and reviewed the publications independently to select studies meeting the predefined selection criteria. Finally, we synthesized and analyzed the eligible articles (N=11) through thematic synthesis. Results Among the 11 included publications, 6 deal exclusively with the language use of the CAs studied, and the remaining 5 are only partly related to this topic. The language use of the CAs in these studies can be roughly classified into six themes: (1) personal pronouns, (2) responses to health and lifestyle prompts, (3) strategic wording and rich linguistic resources, (4) a 3-staged conversation framework, (5) human-like well-manipulated conversations, and (6) symbols and images coupled with phrases. These derived themes effectively engaged users in health communication. Meanwhile, we identified substantial room for improvement based on the inconsistent responses of some CAs and their inability to present large volumes of information on safety-critical health and lifestyle prompts. Conclusions This is the first systematic review of language use in CA-based health communication. The results and limitations identified in the 11 included papers can give fresh insights into the design and development, popularization, and research of CA applications. This review can provide practical implications for incorporating positive language use into the design of health CAs and improving their effective language output in health communication. In this way, upgraded CAs will be more capable of handling various health problems particularly in the context of nationwide and even worldwide public health crises.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Shan
- School of Foreign Studies, Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Meng Ji
- School of Languages and Cultures, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Wenxiu Xie
- Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Xiaobo Qian
- School of Computer Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Rongying Li
- School of Artificial Intelligence, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaomin Zhang
- Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Tianyong Hao
- School of Computer Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
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Pernencar C, Saboia I, Dias JC. How Far Can Conversational Agents Contribute to IBD Patient Health Care—A Review of the Literature. Front Public Health 2022; 10:862432. [PMID: 35844879 PMCID: PMC9282671 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.862432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern societies are facing health and healthcare challenges as never seen before. The digital world in which we are living today considers digital health interventions such as “internet-delivered” therapy (e-Therapy) or mobile apps as an integrated part of healthcare systems. Digital transformation in health care requires the active involvement of patients as the central part of healthcare interventions. In the case of chronic health conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), it is believed that the adoption of new digital tools helps to maintain and extend the health and care of patients, optimizing the course of the treatment of the disease. The study goal was to undertake a literature review associating the use of chatbot technology with IBD patients' health care. This study intends to support digital product developments, mainly chatbot for IBD or other chronic diseases. The work was carried out through two literature review phases. The first one was based on a systematic approach and the second was a scoping review focused only on Frontiers Journals. This review followed a planned protocol for search and selection strategy that was created by a research team discussion. Chatbot technology for chronic disease self-management can have high acceptance and usability levels. The more interaction with a chatbot, the more patients are able to increase their self-care practice, but there is a challenge. The chatbot ontology to personalize the communication still needed to have strong guidelines helping other researchers to define which Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) should be used in the chatbots to improve the user satisfaction, engagement, and dialog quality. The literature review showed us both evidence and success of these tools in other health disorders. Some of them revealed a huge potential for conversational agents as a part of digital health interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cláudia Pernencar
- ICNOVA—NOVA Institute of Communication, NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
- LIDA—Arts and Design Research Lab, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal
- *Correspondence: Cláudia Pernencar
| | - Inga Saboia
- UFC Virtual, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil
- DigiMedia—Department of Communication and Art, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Joana Carmo Dias
- COMEGI—Research Center on Organizations, Markets and Industrial Management, Lisbon, Portugal
- UNIDCOM/IADE—Design and Communication Research Centre, Lisbon, Portugal
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Nißen M, Rüegger D, Stieger M, Flückiger C, Allemand M, V Wangenheim F, Kowatsch T. The Effects of Health Care Chatbot Personas With Different Social Roles on the Client-Chatbot Bond and Usage Intentions: Development of a Design Codebook and Web-Based Study. J Med Internet Res 2022; 24:e32630. [PMID: 35475761 PMCID: PMC9096656 DOI: 10.2196/32630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The working alliance refers to an important relationship quality between health professionals and clients that robustly links to treatment success. Recent research shows that clients can develop an affective bond with chatbots. However, few research studies have investigated whether this perceived relationship is affected by the social roles of differing closeness a chatbot can impersonate and by allowing users to choose the social role of a chatbot. Objective This study aimed at understanding how the social role of a chatbot can be expressed using a set of interpersonal closeness cues and examining how these social roles affect clients’ experiences and the development of an affective bond with the chatbot, depending on clients’ characteristics (ie, age and gender) and whether they can freely choose a chatbot’s social role. Methods Informed by the social role theory and the social response theory, we developed a design codebook for chatbots with different social roles along an interpersonal closeness continuum. Based on this codebook, we manipulated a fictitious health care chatbot to impersonate one of four distinct social roles common in health care settings—institution, expert, peer, and dialogical self—and examined effects on perceived affective bond and usage intentions in a web-based lab study. The study included a total of 251 participants, whose mean age was 41.15 (SD 13.87) years; 57.0% (143/251) of the participants were female. Participants were either randomly assigned to one of the chatbot conditions (no choice: n=202, 80.5%) or could freely choose to interact with one of these chatbot personas (free choice: n=49, 19.5%). Separate multivariate analyses of variance were performed to analyze differences (1) between the chatbot personas within the no-choice group and (2) between the no-choice and the free-choice groups. Results While the main effect of the chatbot persona on affective bond and usage intentions was insignificant (P=.87), we found differences based on participants’ demographic profiles: main effects for gender (P=.04, ηp2=0.115) and age (P<.001, ηp2=0.192) and a significant interaction effect of persona and age (P=.01, ηp2=0.102). Participants younger than 40 years reported higher scores for affective bond and usage intentions for the interpersonally more distant expert and institution chatbots; participants 40 years or older reported higher outcomes for the closer peer and dialogical-self chatbots. The option to freely choose a persona significantly benefited perceptions of the peer chatbot further (eg, free-choice group affective bond: mean 5.28, SD 0.89; no-choice group affective bond: mean 4.54, SD 1.10; P=.003, ηp2=0.117). Conclusions Manipulating a chatbot’s social role is a possible avenue for health care chatbot designers to tailor clients’ chatbot experiences using user-specific demographic factors and to improve clients’ perceptions and behavioral intentions toward the chatbot. Our results also emphasize the benefits of letting clients freely choose between chatbots.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcia Nißen
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Dominik Rüegger
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Pathmate Technologies AG, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Mirjam Stieger
- Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, United States.,Institute of Communication and Marketing, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne, Switzerland.,Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Mathias Allemand
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,University Research Priority Programs, Dynamics of Healthy Aging, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Florian V Wangenheim
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Tobias Kowatsch
- Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Centre for Digital Health Interventions, Institute of Technology Management, University of St.Gallen, St.Gallen, Switzerland
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