Human-centred healthcare chatbot design: supporting Chinese overseas students to utilise UK health services

Abstract

Living in foreign countries can be stressful, particularly in managing health and well-being. Chinese overseas students continuously constitute the largest cohort of international students in the UK; however, they face many challenges in using healthcare services, such as realising the need to access care, communicating with doctors, and understanding treatment processes. This research looked into Chinese overseas students on their behaviours in using UK healthcare services. Based on their pain points, the research project designed and evaluated an educational chatbot prototype that addresses the reluctance issues among the Chinese student population to access healthcare services in the UK. The results showed that the chatbot design boosted Chinese students’ confidence and made them feel more capable of utilising healthcare services.