Perception of Empathy in Mental Health Care Through Voice-Based Conversational Agent Prototypes: Experimental Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Empathy is a critical component of effective mental health care communication. Positive perceptions of empathy in conversational agents (CAs) operating in the health care domain are therefore needed to enhance the quality of care provided by these emerging technologies. However, research on how users perceive empathy in CAs is limited, particularly in voice-based prototypes.

Objective

The objective of this study is to identify to what extent perceptions of empathy in CA prototypes correspond with the engineered empathy levels for these voice-based prototypes. In addition, as a secondary aim, this study investigates how the demographic characteristics of participants affect their perception of empathy in a mental health helpline service context.

Methods

Swin

SUBMITTER: Sanjeewa R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12077854 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature