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      Celebrating 65 years of The Computer Journal - free-to-read perspectives - bcs.org/tcj65

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      Towards a chatbot for digital counselling

      proceedings-article
      Author(s): , , , , , , ,
      Publication date (Print):
      Conference name: Proceedings of the 31st International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference (HCI 2017) (HCI)
      Conference theme: digital make-believe, with delegates considering our expansive
      Conference date: 3 - 6 July 2017
      Keywords: Mental Health, Counselling, Digital Interventions, Chatbots, Artificial Intelligence, API.ai
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            Abstract

            The aim of this paper is to outline the design of a chatbot to be used within mental health counselling. One of the main causes of the burden of disease worldwide is mental health problems. Mental health contributes to 28% of the total burden of disease, compared to 16% each for cancer and heart disease in the UK. Stress, anxiety or depression accounted for 15.8 million days of sickness absence across the UK in 2016. By 2020, the gap between the demand for mental health care and the resources the National Health Service (NHS) can provide is likely to widen, therefore providers are increasingly needing to find more cost-effective ways to deliver mental health care. Digital Interventions have been created to help with these issues, for example anxiety, stress and depression. Chatbots can be incorporated into digital interventions, or used as standalone interventions. Chatbots can be a more interactive experience for the user to receive information, or complete diagnostic tools, or to even be used for counselling. A demo chatbot was created using interactive emoji’s and GIFs to improve the user experience when searching for online self-help tips. This chatbot will be further developed and incorporated into a full web based programme for mental health in the workplace. It is envisaged that the chatbot will be able to provide initial counselling, and lead users into the correct services or self-help information.

            Content

            Author and article information

            Contributors
            Gillian Cameron
            David Cameron
            Gavin Megaw
            Raymond Bond
            Maurice Mulvenna
            Siobhan O’Neill
            Cherie Armour
            Michael McTear
            Conference
            Publication date: July 2017
            Publication date (Print): July 2017
            Pages: 1-7
            Affiliations
            [0001]Ulster University

            Belfast, N. Ireland
            [0002]Inspire Workplaces

            Belfast, N. Ireland
            Article
            DOI: 10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.24
            SO-VID: a0f7da16-a051-4bfb-9dc7-3baa875657c1
            Copyright © © Cameron et al. Published by BCS Learning and Development Ltd. Proceedings of British HCI 2017 – Digital Make-Believe. Sunderland, UK.
            License:

            This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

            Conference name: Proceedings of the 31st International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference (HCI 2017)
            Conference acronym: HCI
            Conference number: 31
            Conference location: Sunderland, UK
            Conference date: 3 - 6 July 2017
            Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)
            Conference theme: digital make-believe, with delegates considering our expansive
            History
            Product

            1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

            Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.24
            Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/
            Categories
            Series title: Electronic Workshops in Computing

            ScienceOpen disciplines: Applied computer science,Computer science,Security & Cryptology,Graphics & Multimedia design,General computer science,Human-computer-interaction
            Keywords: Mental Health,Counselling,Digital Interventions,Chatbots,Artificial Intelligence,API.ai

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