Stroke-specific Virtual Assistant as a Companion in Recovery

Background and aims: RES-Q+ project partners have been developing a virtual assistant (VA) for stroke survivors, their families, and caregivers. The primary purpose of the VA is to provide users with quality assured information in response to common questions regarding stroke. The VA also aims to allow users to check in on their mental wellbeing, functional recovery and rehabilitation progress.

Methods: Interviews and focus groups were conducted with stroke survivors and their families and caregivers in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. Overall, 30 stroke survivors across 15 interviews interacted with the VA and answered Patient Recorded Outcome Measures on the VA interface and in a human interview. The corpus of 35 sessions with 40 participants was transcribed verbatim by the partner teams. Thematic analysis identified key overarching themes of barriers to using the VA, its relative advantages compared to human check-ins, and perceptions of the VA as a human-like companion.

Results: Barriers to use included lack of familiarity and comfort with technology, and scepticism toward information found online. The VA’s relative advantages included increased ease of access and comfort around sensitive topics compared to conversations with humans. Perceptions of the VA as a humanlike companion emerged as participants used human terms to describe its role as an additional, trustworthy and personable source of information and support, rather than a replacement to resourceintensive human check-ins.

Conclusions: Our findings highlight the need of stroke survivors for an additional, readily available, and trustworthy source of support post discharge.