AI Chatbots for Dementia Patients Show Promise, But Need Work

June 17, 2021 - AI chatbots have the potential to help dementia patients and assist caregivers, but the technology is still far from being truly useful and reliable, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Researchers included six chatbots in their analysis and evaluated the content and scope of each with an evidence-based assessment tool. The chatbots were assessed specifically in relation to their ability to help dementia patients and caregivers.

Five chatbots were Alexa Skills voice apps, and the sixth was a text-based mobile app. Some apps concentrated on educating about dementia, while others focused on helping patients with memory. The apps were evaluated based on efficiency, performance, functionality, affect, humanity, effectiveness, satisfaction, and ethics and behavior.

“Artificial intelligence chatbots have great potential to improve the communication between patients and the healthcare system, given the shortage of healthcare staff and the complexity of the patient needs,” Vagelis Hristidis, the study’s corresponding author and professor of computer science at the University of California, Riverside, said in a UC Riverside news article.  

“This is especially important for dementia patients and caregivers, who keep increasing as the population ages, and face care challenges daily.”

The chatbots performed sufficiently in the functionality category, as they were relatively user-friendly. Despite responses being logical and easy to understand, the conversations between humans and chatbots did not appear to be natural. Just one app passed the Turing test, which gauges the extent to which a person can tell the difference between chatbot and human interactions.

Chatbots have shown promise for helping older individuals, but the current state of the technology may make the tools unreliable and difficult to use. In addition, it was unclear to researchers whether the chatbots underwent thorough empirical testing, or whether the information was updated regularly. The chatbots did not provide references when relaying information.

“Overall, this underscores the importance of developing chatbot technologies that undergo extensive user testing, given that the technical literacy required to use chatbots can pose a barrier to older adults’ use and acceptability,” the study asserted.

“This is very important for chatbots designed to be used within the context of health care, given the previously stated concerns that input inflexibility of a particular chatbot could pose risks to patients.”

The use of chatbots for caregivers presents an opportunity to ease staff burden, but only if the information given was properly validated. The study noted that HIPAA compliance presents a hurdle in implementing chatbots into care, but some services like Amazon Alexa are beginning to offer HIPAA-compliant services.

Despite continuing progress, the study concluded that chatbots are a long way from being reliable sources of information for dementia patients and caregivers, and more evidence-based research is needed.

“Dementia care is complex and no two cases of dementia are alike. Chatbots have the potential of providing caregivers with instant support that is evidence-based and personalized,” Nicole Ruggiano, the study’s primary author and a professor of social work at the University of Alabama, said in the UC Riverside article.

“While it was promising to find some advancements in this area, it was disappointing to learn that more hasn't been done.”

AI chatbots have shown promise for improving patient satisfaction and have played a part in supporting isolated individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent study also revealed that Google Assistant, Google’s AI chatbot, performed significantly better than Siri and Alexa in providing accurate medication information, showing promise for the future of chatbots in healthcare.