STEM Translational Communication Center, College of Journalism & Communications, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Department of Chemistry, Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.
Psychooncology. 2020 Dec;29(12):2048-2056. doi: 10.1002/pon.5538. Epub 2020 Sep 15.
Despite efforts to reduce cancer disparities, Black women remain underrepresented in cancer research. Virtual health assistants (VHAs) are one promising digital technology for communicating health messages and promoting health behaviors to diverse populations. This study describes participant responses to a VHA-delivered intervention promoting colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with a home-stool test.
We recruited 53 non-Hispanic Black women 50 to 73 years old to participate in focus groups and think-aloud interviews and test a web-based intervention delivered by a race- and gender-concordant VHA. A user-centered design approach prioritized modifications to three successive versions of the intervention based on participants' comments.
Participants identified 26 cues relating to components of the VHA's credibility, including trustworthiness, expertise, and authority. Comments on early versions revealed preferences for communicating with a human doctor and negative critiques of the VHA's appearance and movements. Modifications to specific cues improved the user experience, and participants expressed increased willingness to engage with later versions of the VHA and the screening messages it delivered. Informed by the Modality, Agency, Interactivity, Navigability Model, we present a framework for developing credible VHA-delivered cancer screening messages.
VHAs provide a systematic way to deliver health information. A culturally sensitive intervention designed for credibility promoted user interest in engaging with guideline-concordant CRC screening messages. We present strategies for effectively using cues to engage audiences with health messages, which can be applied to future research in varying contexts.
尽管已经在努力减少癌症的差异，但黑人女性在癌症研究中仍然代表性不足。虚拟健康助手 (VHA) 是一种很有前途的数字技术，可用于向不同人群传达健康信息和促进健康行为。本研究描述了参与者对 VHA 提供的促进结直肠癌 (CRC) 筛查的干预措施的反应，该措施使用家用便检进行筛查。
我们招募了 53 名年龄在 50 至 73 岁之间的非西班牙裔黑人女性，让她们参加焦点小组和出声思维访谈，并测试一个由性别和种族一致的 VHA 提供的基于网络的干预措施。以用户为中心的设计方法根据参与者的评论，将修改重点放在该干预措施的三个连续版本上。
参与者确定了 26 个与 VHA 可信度相关的线索，包括可信度、专业知识和权威性。对早期版本的评论表明，参与者更愿意与人类医生沟通，并对 VHA 的外观和动作持负面评价。对特定线索的修改改善了用户体验，参与者表示更愿意与 VHA 的后续版本以及它提供的筛查信息进行互动。根据模态、代理、交互、可导航性模型，我们提出了一个开发可信 VHA 传递癌症筛查信息的框架。
VHA 提供了一种系统的传递健康信息的方法。为提高可信度而设计的具有文化敏感性的干预措施促进了用户对参与符合指南的 CRC 筛查信息的兴趣。我们提出了有效利用线索吸引观众关注健康信息的策略，这些策略可以应用于不同背景下的未来研究。
