ArticleBMC medical informatics and decision making2021
Key changes to improve social presence of a virtual health assistant promoting colorectal cancer screening informed by a technology acceptance model.
Article in BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Virtual Health Assistants in Preventive Cancer Care Communication: Systematic Review.JMIR cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Communicating risk to promote colorectal cancer screening: a multi-method study to test tailored versus targeted message strategies.Health education research · 2022Trial
- Equity-Oriented Design Processes and Evaluation of Digital Health Technologies for Black Communities Beyond Usability: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on colorectal cancer screening in a federally qualified health center: Provider and staff perspectives.PloS one · 2026Article
- Avatar customization, social presence, and eHealth literacy: understanding user adoption of virtual hospitals for public health innovation.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Embodied Conversational Agents for Chronic Diseases: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Factors Influencing the Acceptability, Acceptance, and Adoption of Conversational Agents in Health Care: Integrative Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Review
- Application of machine learning for risky sexual behavior interventions among factory workers in China.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Rural adults' perceptions of nutrition recommendations for cancer prevention: Contradictory and conflicting messages.Preventive oncology & epidemiology · 2023Article
- Can virtual human clinicians help close the gap in colorectal cancer screening for rural adults in the United States? The influence of rural identity on perceptions of virtual human clinicians.Preventive medicine reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding how older, minoritized patients attend to cues when interacting with web-based health messages may provide opportunities to improve engagement with novel health technologies. We assess acceptance-promoting and acceptance-inhibiting cues of a web-based, intervention promoting colorectal cancer (CRC) screening with a home stool test among Black women. MATERIALS AND
methodsFocus group and individual interview data informed iterative changes to a race- and gender-concordant virtual health assistant (VHA). A user-centered design approach was used across 3 iterations to identify changes needed to activate cues described as important; such as portraying authority and expertise. Questionnaire data were analyzed using non-parametric tests for perceptions of cues. Analysis was guided by the Technology Acceptance Model.
resultsPerceptions of interactivity, social presence, expertise, and trust were important cues in a VHA-delivered intervention promoting CRC screening. Features of the web-based platform related to ease of navigation and use were also discussed. Participant comments varied across the 3 iterations and indicated acceptance of or a desire to improve source cues for subsequent iterations. We highlight the specific key changes made at each of three iterative versions of the interactive intervention in conjunction with user perception of changes. DISCUSSION: Virtual agents can be adapted to better meet patient expectations such as being a trustworthy and expert source. Across three evolving versions of a Black, VHA, cues for social presence were particularly important. Social presence cues helped patients engage with CRC screening messages delivered in this novel digital context.
conclusionsWhen using a VHA to disseminate health information, cues associated with acceptability can be leveraged and adapted as needed for diverse audiences. Patient characteristics (age, identity, health status) are important to note as they may affect perceptions of a novel health technologies ease of use and relevancy according to the leading models.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.