GARDE-Chat: a scalable, open-source platform for building and deploying health chatbots.

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Chatbots are increasingly utilized for health education, patient engagement, and healthcare access.
• GARDE-Chat is an open-source platform designed to streamline the creation and deployment of chatbot-based digital health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce GARDE-Chat, an open-source platform for developing and disseminating digital health interventions.
• To highlight the platform's features that support diverse chatbot development and integration.

Main Methods:

• GARDE-Chat was developed iteratively, prioritizing features based on real-world use cases.
• The platform was built as open-source to foster collaboration and broad adoption in research and clinical settings.

Main Results:

• Key features include a visual interface for non-programmers, support for scripted/LLM/hybrid chatbots, and sharing capabilities.
• The platform integrates with external data sources (e.g., EHR, REDCap) and offers flexible delivery via web or text.
• Since July 2022, GARDE-Chat has supported interventions in pragmatic trials for genetic testing, COVID-19, tobacco cessation, and cancer screening.

Conclusions:

• GARDE-Chat is a versatile platform for developing, implementing, and disseminating scalable, chatbot-based population health interventions.
• The platform has been validated in multiple studies and is accessible to researchers and healthcare systems.
• Ongoing development focuses on script creation efficiency, safe LLM integration, and clinical system interoperability.