Population Health

January 16, 2020

Developing a chatbot to support caregivers of children with chronic conditions

Image of the CocoBot interface displaying on a smart phoneBeing a parent or caregiver to a child can be a stressful experience, with added challenges if a child has a chronic illness or medical condition.

A tri-campus team of University of Washington researchers is attempting to help reduce this stress through development of a chatbot that supports caregivers of children with chronic conditions.

“We imagine using an established behavioral intervention to help people, to give them tools to problem-solve challenges they encounter as caregivers,” shared Weichao Yuwen, assistant professor of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership at UW Tacoma and member of the CocoBot research team.

CocoBot is currently undergoing user testing. Future steps may include sponsoring student projects to help integrate different interventions, utilizing digital biomarkers from devices like the Fitbit or Apple Watch, and developing a version of CocoBot that can communicate in Spanish.

The CocoBot project was launched via a Population Health Initiative pilot research grant.

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