2025/07/22 by Laura Moradbakhti, Moradbakhti, Laura, Dorian Peters +9
Psychology · #Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI) #Computers and Society (cs.CY) #Digital Mental Health Interventions #Emerging Technologies (cs.ET) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC) #J.3 #K.4.2
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2507.16735
openalex publication_date 2025/07/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Asthma-related deaths in the UK are the highest in Europe, and only 30% of patients access basic care. There is a need for alternative approaches to reaching people with asthma in order to provide health education, self-management support and bridges to care. Automated conversational agents (specifically, mobile chatbots) present opportunities for providing alternative and individually tailored access to health education, self-management support and risk self-assessment. But would patients engage with a chatbot, and what factors influence engagement? We present results from a patient survey (N=1257) devised by a team of asthma clinicians, patients, and technology developers, conducted to identify optimal factors for efficacy, value and engagement for a chatbot. Results indicate that most adults with asthma (53%) are interested in using a chatbot and the patients most likely to do so are those who believe their asthma is more serious and who are less confident about self-management. Results also indicate enthusiasm for 24/7 access, personalisation, and for WhatsApp as the preferred access method (compared to app, voice assistant, SMS or website). Obstacles to uptake include security/privacy concerns and skepticism of technological capabilities. We present detailed findings and consolidate these into 7 recommendations for developers for optimising efficacy of chatbot-based health support.