Potts C, Ennis E, Bond R B, Mulvenna M D, McTear M F, Boyd K, Broderick T, Malcolm M, Kuosmanen L, Nieminen H, Vartiainen A K, Kostenius C, Cahill B, Vakaloudis A, McConvey G, O'Neill S
School of Computing, Ulster University, Newtownabbey, UK.
School of Psychology, Ulster University, Derry-Londonderry, UK.
J Technol Behav Sci. 2021;6(4):652-665. doi: 10.1007/s41347-021-00222-6. Epub 2021 Sep 20.
Digital technologies such as chatbots can be used in the field of mental health. In particular, chatbots can be used to support citizens living in sparsely populated areas who face problems such as poor access to mental health services, lack of 24/7 support, barriers to engagement, lack of age appropriate support and reductions in health budgets. The aim of this study was to establish if user groups can design content for a chatbot to support the mental wellbeing of individuals in rural areas. University students and staff, mental health professionals and mental health service users ( = 78 total) were recruited to workshops across Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, Finland and Sweden. The findings revealed that participants wanted a positive chatbot that was able to listen, support, inform and build a rapport with users. Gamification could be used within the chatbot to increase user engagement and retention. Content within the chatbot could include validated mental health scales and appropriate response triggers, such as signposting to external resources should the user disclose potentially harmful information or suicidal intent. Overall, the workshop participants identified user needs which can be transformed into chatbot requirements. Responsible design of mental healthcare chatbots should consider what users want or need, but also what chatbot features artificial intelligence can competently facilitate and which features mental health professionals would endorse.
聊天机器人等数字技术可应用于心理健康领域。特别是，聊天机器人可用于支持生活在人口稀少地区的公民，这些人面临着诸如难以获得心理健康服务、缺乏全天候支持、参与障碍、缺乏适合不同年龄段的支持以及卫生预算削减等问题。本研究的目的是确定用户群体是否能够为聊天机器人设计内容，以支持农村地区个人的心理健康。大学生和工作人员、心理健康专业人员以及心理健康服务用户（共78人）被招募参加在北爱尔兰、爱尔兰、苏格兰、芬兰和瑞典举办的研讨会。研究结果显示，参与者希望有一个积极的聊天机器人，能够倾听、支持、提供信息并与用户建立融洽关系。可在聊天机器人中使用游戏化来提高用户参与度和留存率。聊天机器人中的内容可包括经过验证的心理健康量表和适当的响应触发机制，例如，如果用户披露潜在有害信息或自杀意图，应引导其获取外部资源。总体而言，研讨会参与者确定了可转化为聊天机器人要求的用户需求。心理健康护理聊天机器人的负责任设计应考虑用户想要或需要什么，还要考虑人工智能能够有效促进哪些聊天机器人功能，以及心理健康专业人员会认可哪些功能。
