Background Conversational agents have the ability to reach people through multiple mediums, including the online space, mobile phones, and hardware devices like Alexa and Google Home. Conversational agents provide an engaging method of interaction while making information easier to access. Their emergence into areas related to public health and health education is perhaps unsurprising. While the building of conversational agents is getting more simplified with time, there are still requirements of time and effort. There is also a lack of clarity and consistent terminology regarding what constitutes a conversational agent, how these agents are developed, and the kinds of resources that are needed to develop and sustain them. This lack of clarity creates a daunting task for those seeking to build conversational agents for health education initiatives. Objective This scoping review aims to identify literature that reports on the design and implementation of conversational agents to promote and educate the public on matters related to health. We will categorize conversational agents in health education in alignment with current classifications and terminology emerging from the marketplace. We will clearly define the variety levels of conversational agents, categorize currently existing agents within these levels, and describe the development models, tools, and resources being used to build conversational agents for health care education purposes. Methods This scoping review will be conducted by employing the Arksey and O’Malley framework. We will also be adhering to the enhancements and updates proposed by Levac et al and Peters et al. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping reviews will guide the reporting of this scoping review. A systematic search for published and grey literature will be undertaken from the following databases: (1) PubMed, (2) PsychINFO, (3) Embase, (4) Web of Science, (5) SCOPUS, (6) CINAHL, (7) ERIC, (8) MEDLINE, and (9) Google Scholar. Data charting will be done using a structured format. Results Initial searches of the databases retrieved 1305 results. The results will be presented in the final scoping review in a narrative and illustrative manner. Conclusions This scoping review will report on conversational agents being used in health education today, and will include categorization of the levels of the agents and report on the kinds of tools, resources, and design and development methods used. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/31923
Background Social media use has grown tremendously over the years. Given the volume and diversity of people on social media and the amount of information being exchanged, it is perhaps unsurprising that social media is being used as an avenue to disseminate and deliver health interventions. There exists an opportunity for social media health interventions to make a positive impact on health. However, there is a need to understand more about the ways in which these interventions are designed, developed, and evaluated. This scoping protocol will review the current state of this field by charting the elements that drive the design, development, and evaluation of these interventions. This includes charting models, frameworks, and rationales for the interventions, as well as the platforms being used, and the health behaviors being targeted. This intention of this scoping review is to help inform those who wish to develop effective social media health interventions. Objective The objective of this review is to map the elements that drive the design, development, and evaluation of social media health interventions. We define “social media health intervention” as interventions that make use of social media platforms to disseminate or deliver health-related information and educational initiatives to the public. We will seek to chart the elements that drive the design, development, and delivery of such interventions, including their platforms and targeted health behaviors. Methods The methodological framework for this review is guided by Arksey and O’Malley and enhancements by later studies. We will search relevant literature from 9 databases: (1) PubMed, (2) PsycINFO, (3) EMBASE, (4) Web of Science, (5) Scopus, (6) CINAHL, (7) ERIC, (8) MEDLINE, and (9) Google Scholar. The literature will be screened by at least two reviewers in 2 stages: (1) title/abstract screening against the eligibility criteria; and (2) eligible articles will then undergo a full-text screening. Data will be charted using the data charting tool developed by the authors. Results The results of this study will be presented in a final scoping review paper, divided into 2 sections. The first section will describe the search strategy and study selection process and will contain the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flowchart. The second section will provide key details pertaining to the review objective and question. Conclusions This review will help guide scholars looking to build social media health interventions toward evidence-based practices in design and evaluation. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/31911
BACKGROUND Conversational agents can reach people where they are at, existing online, on mobile phones, or even through hardware like Alexa and Siri, making information easier to access and providing an engaging method of interaction. It makes sense that chatbots would also start to emerge to improve public health through health education. While building a chatbot is getting easier, there is still required time and effort. There is also a lack of clarity and consistent terminology about what kinds of chatbots are out there, how they are developed, and the kind of resources needed to develop and sustain them. This lack of clarity makes a daunting task for those seeking to build health education initiatives. Our scoping review seeks to categorize conversational agents in healthcare education in alignment with current classifications and terminology emerging from the marketplace. We will define the terminology of levels of conversational agents, categorize current agents along with these levels and describe the uses, resources, and evaluations common to these levels. OBJECTIVE This scoping review aims to identify literature that reports on the design and implementation of conversational agents to promote and educate the public on matters related to health. METHODS This scoping review will be conducted by employing the Arksey and O’Malley framework. We will also be adhering to the enhancements and updates proposed by Levac et al. and Peters et al. The PRISMA extension for scoping reviews will guide the reporting of this scoping review. A systematic search for published and grey literature will be undertaken from the following databases (1) PubMed, (2) PsychINFO, (2) Embase, (4) Web of Science, (5) SCOPUS, (6) CINAHL, (7) ERIC, (8) MEDLINE, (9) Google Scholar. Data charting will be done using a structured format. RESULTS Initial searches of the databases retrieved 1,480 results. The results will be presented in the final scoping review in both a narrative and illustrative manner. CONCLUSIONS Reviewers have previously explored conversational agents in health. However, to the authors' knowledge, there has been no review conducted in the specific area of our interest –Health Education. Therefore, this review will provide a map of the literature in this area and clarify and define the heterogeneous terms found in the literature. This information will help healthcare professionals and administrators to understand what kinds of chatbots would be appropriate in their setting. And through our charted data could also help them understand what kind of resources or expertise is required for the different chatbots in use.
BACKGROUND Social media use has grown tremendously over the years. Given the volume of people on social media and the amount of information being exchanged, it is perhaps unsurprising that social media is being used to promote health interventions. There exists an opportunity for social media-driven health interventions to make a positive impact on health. There is a need to explore the current state of this field, including the platforms being used, models of design, models of behavior change, and evaluation that underpin social media health interventions. This scoping protocol will help to inform those who wish to develop such health interventions. OBJECTIVE The main objective of this scoping review protocol is to map the landscape of health interventions disseminated through social media. In addition to which we aim to understand what models of design, models of behavior change, and evaluation underpin social media health interventions. METHODS The methodological framework for this review is guided by Arksey and O’Malley and enhancements by Levac et al. and Peters et al. We will search relevant literature from 9 databases (1) PubMed, (2) PsychINFO, (2) Embase, (4) Web of Science, (5) SCOPUS, (6) CINAHL, (7) ERIC, (8) MEDLINE, (9) Google Scholar. The literature will be screened by at least two reviewers in two stages 1) Title/Abstract screening against the eligibility criteria; eligible articles will then undergo full text screening. Data will be charted using the data charting tool developed by the authors. RESULTS The results of this study will be presented in the final scoping review in two sections. The first section will describe the search strategy and study selection process and will contain the PRISMA flow chart. The second section will provide key details pertaining to the review objective and question. CONCLUSIONS Our scoping review will provide insights into the use of social media in the field of health intervention. Using social media to drive health interventions is an emerging way of reaching diverse audiences. This scoping review provides an opportunity to explore the current state of the field and help to inform others who wish to enter into the space of social media-driven health interventions to improve health outcomes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.