Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Digital Symptom Management in Oncology: The Development of CRCWeb

AbstractDigital health interventions offer promise for scalable and accessible health care, but access is still limited by some participatory challenges, especially for disadvantaged families facing limited health literacy, language barriers, low income, or living in marginalized areas. T...

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Main Authors: Darren Liu, Yufen Lin, Runze Yan, Zhiyuan Wang, Delgersuren Bold, Xiao Hu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2025-06-01
Series:JMIR Cancer
Online Access:https://cancer.jmir.org/2025/1/e68516
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author Darren Liu
Yufen Lin
Runze Yan
Zhiyuan Wang
Delgersuren Bold
Xiao Hu
author_facet Darren Liu
Yufen Lin
Runze Yan
Zhiyuan Wang
Delgersuren Bold
Xiao Hu
author_sort Darren Liu
collection DOAJ
description AbstractDigital health interventions offer promise for scalable and accessible health care, but access is still limited by some participatory challenges, especially for disadvantaged families facing limited health literacy, language barriers, low income, or living in marginalized areas. These issues are particularly pronounced for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), who often experience distressing symptoms and struggle with educational materials due to complex jargon, fatigue, or reading level mismatches. To address these issues, we developed and assessed the feasibility of a digital health platform, CRCWeb, to improve the accessibility of educational resources on symptom management for disadvantaged patients with CRC and their caregivers facing limited health literacy or low income. CRCWeb was developed through a stakeholder-centered participatory design approach. Two-phase semistructured interviews with patients, caregivers, and oncology experts informed the iterative design process. From the interviews, we developed the following 5 key design principles: user-friendly navigation, multimedia integration, concise and clear content, enhanced accessibility for individuals with vision and reading disabilities, and scalability for future content expansion. Initial feedback from iterative stakeholder engagements confirmed high user satisfaction, with participants rating CRCWeb an average of 3.98 out of 5 on the postintervention survey. Additionally, using generative artificial intelligence tools, including large language models like ChatGPT and multimedia generation tools such as Pictory, complex health care guidelines were transformed into concise, easily comprehensible multimedia content, and made accessible through CRCWeb. User engagement was notably higher among disadvantaged participants with limited health literacy or low income, who logged into the platform 2.52 times more frequently than nondisadvantaged participants. The structured development approach of CRCWeb demonstrates that generative artificial intelligence–powered multimedia interventions can effectively address health care accessibility barriers faced by disadvantaged patients with CRC and caregivers with limited health literacy or low income. This structured approach highlights how digital innovations can enhance health care.
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spelling doaj-art-85c70d30bf3c45ee9ab21d08f3c7fcc42025-08-20T02:21:34ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Cancer2369-19992025-06-0111e68516e6851610.2196/68516Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Digital Symptom Management in Oncology: The Development of CRCWebDarren Liuhttp://orcid.org/0009-0004-5019-4402Yufen Linhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-9182-2928Runze Yanhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-6558-4567Zhiyuan Wanghttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-1611-2053Delgersuren Boldhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-2983-571XXiao Huhttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-9478-5571 AbstractDigital health interventions offer promise for scalable and accessible health care, but access is still limited by some participatory challenges, especially for disadvantaged families facing limited health literacy, language barriers, low income, or living in marginalized areas. These issues are particularly pronounced for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC), who often experience distressing symptoms and struggle with educational materials due to complex jargon, fatigue, or reading level mismatches. To address these issues, we developed and assessed the feasibility of a digital health platform, CRCWeb, to improve the accessibility of educational resources on symptom management for disadvantaged patients with CRC and their caregivers facing limited health literacy or low income. CRCWeb was developed through a stakeholder-centered participatory design approach. Two-phase semistructured interviews with patients, caregivers, and oncology experts informed the iterative design process. From the interviews, we developed the following 5 key design principles: user-friendly navigation, multimedia integration, concise and clear content, enhanced accessibility for individuals with vision and reading disabilities, and scalability for future content expansion. Initial feedback from iterative stakeholder engagements confirmed high user satisfaction, with participants rating CRCWeb an average of 3.98 out of 5 on the postintervention survey. Additionally, using generative artificial intelligence tools, including large language models like ChatGPT and multimedia generation tools such as Pictory, complex health care guidelines were transformed into concise, easily comprehensible multimedia content, and made accessible through CRCWeb. User engagement was notably higher among disadvantaged participants with limited health literacy or low income, who logged into the platform 2.52 times more frequently than nondisadvantaged participants. The structured development approach of CRCWeb demonstrates that generative artificial intelligence–powered multimedia interventions can effectively address health care accessibility barriers faced by disadvantaged patients with CRC and caregivers with limited health literacy or low income. This structured approach highlights how digital innovations can enhance health care.https://cancer.jmir.org/2025/1/e68516
spellingShingle Darren Liu
Yufen Lin
Runze Yan
Zhiyuan Wang
Delgersuren Bold
Xiao Hu
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Digital Symptom Management in Oncology: The Development of CRCWeb
JMIR Cancer
title Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Digital Symptom Management in Oncology: The Development of CRCWeb
title_full Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Digital Symptom Management in Oncology: The Development of CRCWeb
title_fullStr Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Digital Symptom Management in Oncology: The Development of CRCWeb
title_full_unstemmed Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Digital Symptom Management in Oncology: The Development of CRCWeb
title_short Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Digital Symptom Management in Oncology: The Development of CRCWeb
title_sort leveraging artificial intelligence for digital symptom management in oncology the development of crcweb
url https://cancer.jmir.org/2025/1/e68516
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