Virtual Agents as Accessible Health Companions for Post-cOVID Syndrome Patients

Although everyday life seems to have returned to normal for most people after the COVID-19 pandemic, many are still battling long-term effects. Post-COVID syndrome (PCS), with its highly diverse and poorly understood symptoms, presents a challenge for clinicians and patients, as healthcare systems often face capacity limits to adequately address the individual needs of patients after diagnostics. In this work, we introduce a digital healthcare assistant based on a virtual agent (VA), serving as a low-barrier assistant that enables patients to continuously record their medical data regarding PCS using natural language interactions. The designs are focused on accessibility by supporting individual energy management mechanisms to enable pacing for those suffering from fatigue, as well as multilingual conversations to reduce language barriers.