Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Varenicline, one of the most effective smoking cessation medications, has high rates of non-compliance. Healthbots, computer programs that simulate human conversation, can provide tailored medication support to individuals on a large scale. Healthbots are potential supplemental tools for healthcare providers but cannot be implemented without their perspectives since they will be "prescribers" of the healthbot. Our study aimed to describe demographic/context-specific characteristics of healthcare providers' perspectives of a healthbot to improve varenicline adherence for smoking cessation. In this study, we interviewed 19 diverse healthcare providers (e.g., physicians, nurses, etc.) from varying population sizes (e.g., rural, small, medium, and urban) in Ontario to determine if specific demographics affect healthcare providers' willingness to recommend technology. The interviews explored the barriers and facilitators of healthcare providers' perspectives on digital health. Interviews were based on the Theoretical Domains Framework, a guide made up of the social, mental, and environmental influences that elicit behavioural change. The most common barriers to recommending healthbots were technological barriers and concerns about the impact on the patient-physician relationship. In our thematic analysis, it was evident that healthcare providers situated in rural areas were skeptical of incorporating technology in healthcare settings. These viewpoints encompassed a broad sense of trepidation surrounding artificial intelligence and a notable absence of trust in the proficiency of healthbots. We are using this information to select features of a healthbot that may assist healthcare providers with varenicline treatment. This information will also facilitate the development of a healthbot that healthcare providers would willingly recommend.