OP0286 PARE DEVELOPING A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT TO PROMOTE EDUCATION ON OSTEOARTHRITIS
Authors: Catarina Cavique, Ana Paula Cláudio, Maria Beatriz Carmo, Mara Pereira Guerreiro, Afonso Cavaco, Elsa Mateus
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2019)

<h3>Background</h3> Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent chronic rheumatic diseases (24% in Portugal, according to the Portuguese Society of Rheumatology) accounting for significant years of disability. Optimal management of OA requires active patient participation. A recent systematic review concluded that more effective information strategies are needed to respond to the needs of OA patients.<sup>1</sup> Interactive computational simulation with Virtual Humans (VH) has been used with the purpose of educating or promoting lifestyle change in healthy people or in the management of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes treatment, including good users' acceptance and an increase in their knowledge.<sup>2</sup> Knowledge acquisition is generally seen as a necessary condition for behavioral change. Applications with virtual humans offer a dynamic, interactive and easily accessible approach to enhance users' knowledge. We did not find published literature on the use of virtual humans to educate people with OA. <h3>Objectives</h3> To develop a web application to support education of caregivers and people with OA. <h3>Methods</h3> This is a proof of concept study, which builds on our previous experience with virtual assistant applications. For example, "Virtual Pharmacy"<sup>4</sup> is intended to improve self-medication consultation skills between students/pharmacy professionals and community pharmacy clients, whilst "VASelfCare"<sup>3</sup> aims to facilitate self-care of older people with type 2 diabetes (REF?). The main principle underpinning the development of our application is the use of gamification embedded in a narrative with a double purpose of maintaining user engagement and enhancing the play experience. This option has in consideration that OA is more prevalent among the seniors and is supported by a study showing that embedding narratives in mobile games enhances the play experience of this age group.<sup>5</sup> In our approach, the narrative comprises dialogues aiming to ease and stimulate the search for new knowledge, and to educate for disease management and health promotion. <h3>Results</h3> So far, we have developed NOA, a virtual assistant that interacts with users through speech (voice and subtitles) plus facial and body animations. NOA is a 2D cartoon female model that plays the role of a character who suffers from OA and provides information about her own experiences with the disease. At the end of each dialogue, a quiz tests users' knowledge. Awarding points and digital badges for correct answers, or showing the right answers when the user fails, are expected to motivate users to play and learn more. This application will be placed in the "Portuguese League Against Rheumatic Diseases" website to convey easy access. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Development of a virtual assistant web application to promote education on OA, resorting to a narrative approach and gamification principles, is on-going. Future work includes testing the application with experts and patients. <h3>References</h3> [1] Chou, L., et al. (2018). Patients' perceived needs of osteoarthritis health information: A systematic scoping review. PloS one, 13(4), e0195489 [2] Finkelstein, J., &amp; Bedra, M. (2014). Avatar-based Interactive Diabetes Education in Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 62(S1), S64 [3] http://vaselfcare.rd.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/ [4] Cláudio, A. P., et al. (2016). Virtual Humans Playing the Role of Patients in Self-medication Consultations: Perspectives of Undergraduate Pharmacy Students. GRAPP 2016, pp 296-303 [5] Yee, S. L. C. Y., et al. (2010). Investigating narrative in mobile games for seniors. CHI 2010, pp 669-672 <h3>Disclosure of Interests</h3> None declared