A Chatbot to Support Young People During the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Zealand: Evaluation of the Real-World Rollout of an Open Trial.
adolescent mental health
chatbots
dialog-based intervention
digital mental health
youth
Journal
Journal of medical Internet research
ISSN: 1438-8871
Titre abrégé: J Med Internet Res
Pays: Canada
ID NLM: 100959882
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
04 11 2022
04 11 2022
Historique:
received:
14
04
2022
accepted:
18
08
2022
revised:
11
07
2022
pubmed:
12
10
2022
medline:
9
11
2022
entrez:
11
10
2022
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
The number of young people in New Zealand (Aotearoa) who experience mental health challenges is increasing. As those in Aotearoa went into the initial COVID-19 lockdown, an ongoing digital mental health project was adapted and underwent rapid content authoring to create the Aroha chatbot. This dynamic digital support was designed with and for young people to help manage pandemic-related worry. Aroha was developed to provide practical evidence-based tools for anxiety management using cognitive behavioral therapy and positive psychology. The chatbot included practical ideas to maintain social and cultural connection, and to stay active and well. Stay-at-home orders under Aotearoa's lockdown commenced on March 20, 2020. By leveraging previously developed chatbot technology and broader existing online trial infrastructure, the Aroha chatbot was launched promptly on April 7, 2020. Dissemination of the chatbot for an open trial was via a URL, and feedback on the experience of the lockdown and the experience of Aroha was gathered via online questionnaires and a focus group, and from community members. In the 2 weeks following the launch of the chatbot, there were 393 registrations, and 238 users logged into the chatbot, of whom 127 were in the target age range (13-24 years). Feedback guided iterative and responsive content authoring to suit the dynamic situation and motivated engineering to dynamically detect and react to a range of conversational intents. The experience of the implementation of the Aroha chatbot highlights the feasibility of providing timely event-specific digital mental health support and the technology requirements for a flexible and enabling chatbot architectural framework.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
The number of young people in New Zealand (Aotearoa) who experience mental health challenges is increasing. As those in Aotearoa went into the initial COVID-19 lockdown, an ongoing digital mental health project was adapted and underwent rapid content authoring to create the Aroha chatbot. This dynamic digital support was designed with and for young people to help manage pandemic-related worry.
OBJECTIVE
Aroha was developed to provide practical evidence-based tools for anxiety management using cognitive behavioral therapy and positive psychology. The chatbot included practical ideas to maintain social and cultural connection, and to stay active and well.
METHODS
Stay-at-home orders under Aotearoa's lockdown commenced on March 20, 2020. By leveraging previously developed chatbot technology and broader existing online trial infrastructure, the Aroha chatbot was launched promptly on April 7, 2020. Dissemination of the chatbot for an open trial was via a URL, and feedback on the experience of the lockdown and the experience of Aroha was gathered via online questionnaires and a focus group, and from community members.
RESULTS
In the 2 weeks following the launch of the chatbot, there were 393 registrations, and 238 users logged into the chatbot, of whom 127 were in the target age range (13-24 years). Feedback guided iterative and responsive content authoring to suit the dynamic situation and motivated engineering to dynamically detect and react to a range of conversational intents.
CONCLUSIONS
The experience of the implementation of the Aroha chatbot highlights the feasibility of providing timely event-specific digital mental health support and the technology requirements for a flexible and enabling chatbot architectural framework.
Identifiants
pubmed: 36219754
pii: v24i11e38743
doi: 10.2196/38743
pmc: PMC9640203
doi:
Types de publication
Clinical Trial
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e38743Informations de copyright
©Nicola Ludin, Chester Holt-Quick, Sarah Hopkins, Karolina Stasiak, Sarah Hetrick, Jim Warren, Tania Cargo. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 04.11.2022.
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