TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of a virtual coaching system eHealth intervention
T2 - A mixed methods observational cohort study in the Netherlands
AU - Hurmuz, Marian Z.M.
AU - Jansen-Kosterink, Stephanie M.
AU - Beinema, Tessa
AU - Fischer, Katrien
AU - op den Akker, Harm
AU - Hermens, Hermie J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Council of Coaches project funded by the European Union 's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 769553 . The funding source of this study had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of the data, writing of the report, and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Funding Information:
Within the COUCH project (European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 769553), a functional demonstrator (Technology Readiness Level 6) of COUCH ( Fig. 1 ) was developed for older adults, adults with diabetes mellitus type 2 and adults with chronic pain. This eHealth application was developed in the Netherlands. It allows users to have natural language dialogues with a group of virtual coaches. There are a total of 160 dialogues among all coaches. These virtual coaches have their own expertise in several domains: physical activity, nutrition, social, cognition, peer/support, chronic pain and diabetes. When a user is not diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2 or chronic pain, the coaches of these domains are not available. The interaction between users and the coaches happens via a text-based user interface; a speech bubble pops up, and the user has several answer options to choose. More information about the dialogue content and the implementation of the dialogues is described in a paper by Beinema et al. (2021) .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Background: With the rise in human life expectancy, the prevalence of chronic disease has increased significantly. Adopting a healthy lifestyle can decrease the risk of chronic disease. Virtual coaching systems can help older adults adopt a healthy lifestyle. Aim The primary objective of this study was to assess the use, user experience and potential health effects of a conversational agent-based eHealth platform (Council of Coaches) implemented in a real-world setting among older adults. Methods: An observational cohort study was conducted with older adults aged 55 years or older in the Netherlands. Participants were enrolled for 5–9 weeks during which they had access to Council of Coaches. They completed three questionnaires: pre-test, post-test, and at follow-up. After five weeks, an interview was conducted, and participants chose whether they wanted to use the eHealth intervention for another four weeks during the facultative phase. Results: The study population consisted of 51 older adults (70.6% female) with a mean age of 65.3 years (SD = 7.4). Of these, 94.1% started interacting with Council of Coaches, and most participants interacted once per week. During the facultative phase, 21 participants were still interacting with Council of Coaches. Minimal clinical important differences in quality of life were found among the study population after interacting with Council of Coaches. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that eHealth interventions with virtual coaching can be used among older adults. This may increase quality of life for older adults, and decrease their healthcare needs. Future research into such eHealth interventions should take into account the inclusion of sufficient personalised content and the use of a mixed methods study for assessing the eHealth intervention.
AB - Background: With the rise in human life expectancy, the prevalence of chronic disease has increased significantly. Adopting a healthy lifestyle can decrease the risk of chronic disease. Virtual coaching systems can help older adults adopt a healthy lifestyle. Aim The primary objective of this study was to assess the use, user experience and potential health effects of a conversational agent-based eHealth platform (Council of Coaches) implemented in a real-world setting among older adults. Methods: An observational cohort study was conducted with older adults aged 55 years or older in the Netherlands. Participants were enrolled for 5–9 weeks during which they had access to Council of Coaches. They completed three questionnaires: pre-test, post-test, and at follow-up. After five weeks, an interview was conducted, and participants chose whether they wanted to use the eHealth intervention for another four weeks during the facultative phase. Results: The study population consisted of 51 older adults (70.6% female) with a mean age of 65.3 years (SD = 7.4). Of these, 94.1% started interacting with Council of Coaches, and most participants interacted once per week. During the facultative phase, 21 participants were still interacting with Council of Coaches. Minimal clinical important differences in quality of life were found among the study population after interacting with Council of Coaches. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that eHealth interventions with virtual coaching can be used among older adults. This may increase quality of life for older adults, and decrease their healthcare needs. Future research into such eHealth interventions should take into account the inclusion of sufficient personalised content and the use of a mixed methods study for assessing the eHealth intervention.
KW - e-Health
KW - Healthy lifestyle
KW - Older adults
KW - User experience
KW - Virtual coaching
KW - UT-Gold-D
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124189341&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.invent.2022.100501
DO - 10.1016/j.invent.2022.100501
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85124189341
SN - 2214-7829
VL - 27
JO - Internet interventions
JF - Internet interventions
M1 - 100501
ER -
