Stroke patient experience using digital therapy “Vigo” for stroke patient recovery

The aim of this study was to explore patient insights about usability of the digital assistant “Vigo” for stroke recovery. In the last years the number of health applications has grown rapidly. Smartphones and tablets with therapeutic applications could potentially provide resource-efficient rehabilitation to help with recovery. The digital assistant "Vigo'' is a computer-generated artificial intelligence-based application with chatbot and gamification elements. It aims to counsel, educate, and train the stroke patient and patient's family on stroke, rehabilitation, care, and other related issues.  Twelve patients participated in the study. Each participant tested the application at their home environment for a month. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant to obtain information on the usability of the application. Users of digital assistant "Vigo" acknowledged its ability to support, give educational information and increase participation in therapeutic activities. All participants generally evaluated the application as transparent, understandable, and handy. The overall design of the application was rated as good. Participants mostly recommended improving the difficulty level and diversity of exercises. Our findings show that at a patient level use of tablet technologies is acceptable and feasible as long as they are easy to use and beneficial at an individual level. As a home-based rehabilitation tool, the content of the application must be simple, flexible, and diverse, to face the challenges of meeting each individual's goals, functional needs and abilities. Developers need to put emphasis on programs content, flexibility and diversity. Table use faces the challenge of meeting each individual's goals, functional needs and abilities. In depth analyses of results can be found in the following link: https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2020.1839794