Initial Experiences in Designing a Stroke-Specific Virtual Assistant (original) (raw)

Mavromati, Kalliopi ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6600-064X, Skovfoged, Milo, Tvrdá, Lucie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7776-578X, Nemcova, Veronika, Knoche, Hendrik and Quinn, Terence J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1401-0181(2024) Initial Experiences in Designing a Stroke-Specific Virtual Assistant. 10th European Stroke Organization Conference (ESOC 2024), Basel, Switzerland, 15-17 May 2024.

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Abstract

Background and aims: RES-Q+ project partners have been developing a Virtual Assistant (VA) for stroke survivors, their families, and caregivers. The VA will provide users with quality assured information in response to common questions regarding stroke. The VA also aims to allow users to check in on their mental wellbeing, functional recovery and rehabilitation progress. Methods: Interviews and focus groups were conducted with stroke survivors and their families and caregivers in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. Participants interacted with the VA and answered Patient Recorded Outcome Measures (PROMs) on the VA interface and in a human interview. The corpus of 35 sessions with 40 participants was transcribed verbatim by the partner teams. Thematic analysis was performed to identify barriers to using the VA and expectations for its functions. Results: Our quantitative results from 30 stroke survivors in 15 interviews explore the impact of PROM question delivery on response and preference for the checking-in feature of the VA. Barriers to use included lack of familiarity and comfort with technology, and scepticism toward information online. Perceptions of the VA as a companion emerged as participants used human terms to describe its role as an additional, trustworthy and personable companion. Conclusions: Our empirical evidence highlights the importance of additional prompts to help stroke survivors understand questions in PROMs. This would facilitate checking in with a conversational VA that meets users’ expectations without sacrificing accuracy. Our findings highlight the need for an additional, readily available, and trustworthy source of support post discharge

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