UK charity develops coronavirus ‘chatbot’ to help people with arthritis

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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

By Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

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

COVA was created in 14 days after the charity was inundated with requests for help and information on its helpline, website and social media

METHODS TO STOP CORONAVIRUS SPREADING

Infected people can spread a contagion to others via direct or indirect exposure. 

An outbreak will continue to expand if the average number of people infected by each carrier is greater than one. 

SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES 

Prohibiting group gatherings, closing borders, advising people keep 1.5 metres apart, and confining people to their homes has been shown to halt the spread of coronavirus. 

In this method the public does not gain immunity in large numbers and the virus could re-surge dramatically if controls are lifted. 

HERD IMMUNITY 

People who recover from COVID-19 develop antibodies and immunity. 

As the virus spreads through the population and more people develop immunity there are less people the virus can infect. 

If enough people have immunity the outbreak will die away. 

It is estimated about 30 per cent of people who catch the virus will not show symptoms and for many more the symptoms will not be serious. 

This method produces a spike in infections which can overwhelm the healthcare system resulting in large numbers of fatalities. 

VACCINES

A COVID-19 vaccine would be the safest and most effective way of controlling the outbreak. 

There are several vaccines currently in development though they need to be tested which can take many months. 

If a vaccine is rushed without proper testing there may be side-effects and complications. 

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.’