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Investigating User Perceptions of Collaborative Agenda Setting in Virtual Health Counseling Session

Mina Fallah, Farnaz Nouraei, Hye Sun Yun, Timothy Bickmore

TL;DR

The study investigates how collaborative agenda setting in a virtual health counselor influences user engagement and knowledge during breast cancer genetics counseling. It compares three VC configurations with differing levels of user control in agenda setting through a randomized between-subjects design, measuring satisfaction, perceived collaboration, and knowledge gains, supplemented by semi-structured interviews. Quantitative results show high satisfaction and significant knowledge gains across all conditions with no significant between-group differences, while qualitative data reveal a preference for more collaborative and tailored agenda setting to enhance engagement. The work demonstrates the feasibility and importance of patient-centered agenda setting in virtual counseling and highlights implications for designing engaging, informative digital health interventions.

Abstract

Virtual health counselors offer the potential to provide users with information and counseling in complex areas such as disease management and health education. However, ensuring user engagement is challenging, particularly when the volume of information and length of counseling sessions increase. Agenda setting a clinical counseling technique where a patient and clinician collaboratively decide on session topics is an effective approach to tailoring discussions for individual patient needs and sustaining engagement. We explore the effectiveness of agenda setting in a virtual counselor system designed to counsel women for breast cancer genetic testing. In a between subjects study, we assessed three versions of the system with varying levels of user control in the system's agenda setting approach. We found that participants' knowledge improved across all conditions. Although our results showed that any type of agenda setting was perceived as useful, regardless of user control, interviews revealed a preference for more collaboration and user involvement in the agenda setting process. Our study highlights the importance of using patient-centered approaches, such as tailored discussions, when using virtual counselors in healthcare.

Investigating User Perceptions of Collaborative Agenda Setting in Virtual Health Counseling Session

TL;DR

The study investigates how collaborative agenda setting in a virtual health counselor influences user engagement and knowledge during breast cancer genetics counseling. It compares three VC configurations with differing levels of user control in agenda setting through a randomized between-subjects design, measuring satisfaction, perceived collaboration, and knowledge gains, supplemented by semi-structured interviews. Quantitative results show high satisfaction and significant knowledge gains across all conditions with no significant between-group differences, while qualitative data reveal a preference for more collaborative and tailored agenda setting to enhance engagement. The work demonstrates the feasibility and importance of patient-centered agenda setting in virtual counseling and highlights implications for designing engaging, informative digital health interventions.

Abstract

Virtual health counselors offer the potential to provide users with information and counseling in complex areas such as disease management and health education. However, ensuring user engagement is challenging, particularly when the volume of information and length of counseling sessions increase. Agenda setting a clinical counseling technique where a patient and clinician collaboratively decide on session topics is an effective approach to tailoring discussions for individual patient needs and sustaining engagement. We explore the effectiveness of agenda setting in a virtual counselor system designed to counsel women for breast cancer genetic testing. In a between subjects study, we assessed three versions of the system with varying levels of user control in the system's agenda setting approach. We found that participants' knowledge improved across all conditions. Although our results showed that any type of agenda setting was perceived as useful, regardless of user control, interviews revealed a preference for more collaboration and user involvement in the agenda setting process. Our study highlights the importance of using patient-centered approaches, such as tailored discussions, when using virtual counselors in healthcare.
Paper Structure (13 sections, 1 figure)

This paper contains 13 sections, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Design of a Virtual Counselor with Agenda Setting Capabilities
  3. Comparative Acceptance Study
  4. Study Details
  5. Results
  6. Quantitative Results
  7. Qualitative Results
  8. General impressions of the system
  9. The level of collaboration was noticed
  10. Having more control over agenda was preferred
  11. The agent was trusted with topic choices, but clear explanations were preferred
  12. Any type of agenda (structure) was deemed helpful
  13. Discussion

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: Virtual Counselor navigates a 20-minute session according to an agenda.