A necessary conversation to develop chatbots for HIV studies: qualitative findings from research staff, community advisory board members, and study participants

ABSTRACT

Chatbots increase business productivity by handling customer conversations instead of human agents. Similar rationale applies to use chatbots in the healthcare sector, especially for health coaches who converse with clients. Chatbots are nascent in healthcare. Study findings have been mixed in terms of engagement and their impact on outcomes. Questions remain as to chatbot acceptability with coaches and other providers; studies have focused on clients.

To clarify perceived benefits of chatbots in HIV interventions we conducted virtual focus groups with 13 research staff, eight community advisory board members, and seven young adults who were HIV intervention trial participants (clients). Our HIV healthcare context is important. Clients represent a promising age demographic for chatbot uptake. They are a marginalized population warranting consideration to avoid technology that limits healthcare access.

Focus group participants expressed the value of chatbots for HIV research staff and clients. Staff discussed how chatbot functions, such as automated appointment scheduling and service referrals, could reduce workloads while clients discussed the after-hours convenience of these functions. Participants also emphasized that chatbots should provide relatable conversation, reliable functionality, and would not be appropriate for all clients. Our findings underscore the need to further examine appropriate chatbot functionality in HIV interventions.

KEYWORDS:

• Chatbot
• conversational agent
• HIV
• youth
• mHealth

Acknowledgements

We thank the study participants, research staff, and community advisory board members who gave of their valuable time to participate in our focus groups.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval

The institutional review board at the University of California, Los Angeles provided ethical approval for all study procedures. All participants provided verbal consent to participate.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: [Grant Number U19HD089886]; Maternal and Child Health Bureau: [Grant Number T76MC00014]; National Institute of Mental Health: [Grant Number P30MH058107].