Conversational Agent in mHealth to empower people managing the Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

ONParkinson is an integrated platform that aims to provide smart assistance towards the empowerment of the triad comprised of people with Parkinson’s disease, their caregivers and healthcare professionals. Initial studies have shown the importance of providing patients and their caregivers with accessible and credible information to allow them to deal with clinical issues. Over the last two decades, a substantial body of evidence has shown the potential benefits of using embodied conversational agents for health-related purposes. This paper presents the design of a conversational agent, which is being integrated into the ONParkinson’s mobile healthcare app, aiming to respond to questions about Parkinson’s disease posed by people with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers. A detailed evaluation plan that comprises technological performance, user experience, and health research is also presented.