UK charity develops ‘chatbot’ to help people with arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions get medical advice and deal with isolation during the coronavirus crisis
- AI-powered tool COVA has been developed by British charity Versus Arthritis
- It was created after the charity was inundated with requests for help
- Chatbot incorporates advice from NHS and government sources as well as information specifically tailored to people with arthritis and similar conditions
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
An online chatbot designed to help people living with arthritis and similar conditions during the coronavirus pandemic has been launched in the UK.
Developed by charity Versus Arthritis, the the AI tool, called COVA, is the first of its kind which hopes to help people with long-term health condition living in the UK.
It was created in 14 days after the charity was inundated with requests for help and information on its helpline, website and social media.
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Developed by charity Versus Arthritis, the the AI tool, called COVA, is the first of its kind developed specifically for people with a long-term health condition in the UK
The chatbot incorporates health information developed specifically for people with arthritis and musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions on the impact of COVID-19, with answers from Versus Arthritis as well as the British Society for Rheumatology, the NHS and GOV.UK.
It is available on the Versus Arthritis website and can be embedded on other websites.
The virtual assistant guides users to the most relevant answer for their query and focuses on four central themes: medical advice, guidance on isolation, maintaining mental and physical well-being as well as financial guidance.
The charity says it hopes to expand COVA, with the assistance of Filament.ai, an AI specialist firm, to include a full text-chat interface in the coming weeks.
COVA was created in 14 days after the charity was inundated with requests for help and information on its helpline, website and social media
Speaking on the launch of COVA, Amanda Neylon, Director of Insight, Data and Technology said: ‘Getting up-to-date, high-quality, trusted health information and services that are available 24/7 are important at the best of times, but particularly during our current crisis.
‘COVA is a one-stop shop where people with arthritis and MSK conditions can go with confidence to get the information they need to maintain their health and wellbeing.
‘Our helpline and face to face services provide essential support for people every day.
‘During this period of uncertainty, we need to increase our digital services – which include our online community, website health information, social media, and virtual assistant – to support the millions of people with arthritis and MSK conditions particularly those who are most at risk from the coronavirus.
‘We’ve been pioneering the use of AI technologies in the charity sector for several years with our chatbot AVA. Our nimble and innovative response will have a big impact for people in a time of great change and uncertainty.’
Pete Kemp, Filament’s EBM Lead said: ‘It’s been fantastic to work with the Versus Arthritis team to build a trusted service supporting people with musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis at this difficult time.
‘The EBM platform empowers the Versus Arthritis team to continuously improve their own services and health information.
‘The platform can be scaled to thousands of conversations and deployed to multiple chat and voice channels.’