Empowering Community-residing Asian Older Adults Living with Dementia through Chatbot-enhanced Individual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (iCST)

1. Project Goal
We will develop ChatSmart, a smart chatbot designed to help older Chinese adults practice thinking and conversation skills. ChatSMRT will deliver Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) learning modules.  ChatSmart is a hybrid chatbot which combines rule-based dialogues (pre-scripted CST sessions, structured questions/prompts, controlled branching) with selective AI features (i.e., speech recognition/voice synthesis, adaptive pacing, and personalization).  The chatbot will be tailored to their needs, and then will be tested with 5 older adults/caregivers whether they find it easy to use, helpful, and enjoyable.
2. Approaches & Techniques We'll Use
We will use a commercial chatbot platform, IBM watsonx.

•    Write conversation scripts: Create 75 chatbot sessions that feel natural and helpful using an electronic CST manual book. 
•    Add smart AI features:
•    Voice interaction (people can talk to it instead of typing)
•    Test with real people: Run focus group interviews (n=5) with older adults, caregivers to get feedback and make improvements
 

3. Student Research Assistant Roles
We need two RAs, one nursing and one computer/engineering undergraduate student.
NURSING/HEALTHCARE FOCUS
Help with the human side of the project:
•    Coordinate with older adult participants and caregivers (scheduling, answering questions)
•    Help recruit and screen participants for the study
•    Assist during focus group interviews (setup, note-taking, participant comfort)
•    Observe and document how participants interact with ChatSmart
•    Transcribe and organize interview recordings
•    Help analyze feedback for themes related to usability and satisfaction
•    Learn about dementia care and culturally responsive health interventions
COMPUTER ENGINEERING/CS FOCUS
Help with the technical development:
•    Build and code the chatbot dialogue flows using the AI platform (IBM watsonx)
•    Set up voice features (speech recognition and text-to-speech)
•    Deploy ChatSmart to the mini-tablet computer
•    Test technical features and troubleshoot bugs
•    Help document how the system works

Name of research group, project, or lab
ChatSMART
Why participate in this opportunity?

This is a unique opportunity to work on a cutting-edge project that combines healthcare innovation with technology development. As a research assistant, you'll gain hands-on experience in either clinical research or AI/chatbot development while making a real difference in the lives of older adults living with dementia. For nursing students, you'll learn about Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, culturally responsive care, and how to conduct research with vulnerable populations—skills highly valued in healthcare careers and graduate programs. For engineering students, you'll work with professional AI platforms (IBM watsonx) and see how technology solves real-world health problems, building a strong portfolio for tech and health-tech careers. Beyond this project, research experience strengthens applications to graduate programs (graduate school, medical school, CS/engineering programs), positions you competitively for healthcare and tech jobs, and may lead to co-authorship on publications and conference presentations. You'll also build a professional network with faculty mentors and healthcare experts that can open doors to internships, collaborations, and future career opportunities in the growing field of digital health solutions.

Logistics Information:
Field(s) of Study
Community Health Education
Computer Engineering
Informatics
Nursing
Public Health & Health Sciences
Student ranks applicable
Freshman
Sophomore
Junior
Senior
Open to Honors Thesis Work
Student qualifications

General Requirements (Both Positions)
•    Currently enrolled as an undergraduate student in good academic standing
•    Commitment to 5 (nursing) -7 (engineering) hours per week for the semester
•    Strong attention to detail and organizational skills
•    Ability to work as part of a team
•    Reliability and punctuality
•    Willingness to learn new knowledge and skills

NURSING/HEALTHCARE RA Qualifications
Academic Background:
•    Enrolled in Nursing, Public Health, Healthcare Administration, or related health sciences program
Required Skills:
•    Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
•    Ability to work respectfully with older adults and people with cognitive impairments
•    Strong written and verbal communication for transcription and note-taking
•    Basic qualitative data analysis experience preferred but not required
•    Proficiency with Microsoft Word and basic data organization tools
Physical Requirements:
•    Ability to sit for 1-2 hour periods during focus group interviews
•    Ability to stand and move around during participant sessions
•    No extreme physical demands required

COMPUTER ENGINEERING/CS RA Qualifications
Academic Background:
•    Enrolled in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Informatics, or related program
•    Completed at least one programming course (Python, Java, or equivalent)
•    Familiarity with or willingness to quickly learn AI/chatbot platforms
•    Prior experience in Chatbot development preferred 
Required Skills:
•    Proficiency in at least one programming language
•    Understanding of logic, conditional statements, and dialogue flow design
•    Problem-solving and debugging abilities
•    Attention to detail for code testing and documentation
Physical Requirements:
•    Ability to sit for extended periods while coding and testing 
•    No extreme physical demands required

Time commitment
5-7 h/wk
Position Types and Compensation
Paid - General
Number of openings
2
Techniques learned

NURSING/HEALTHCARE 

Student will gain practical experience in:

Research Methods & Design
•    Qualitative research methodologies, specifically focus group interview design and facilitation
•    Participant recruitment, screening, and consent procedures
•    IRB (Institutional Review Board) compliance and research ethics with vulnerable populations
Data Collection & Analysis
•    Observation and field note documentation techniques
•    Audio recording and verbatim transcription of qualitative data
•    Qualitative thematic analysis—identifying patterns and themes in interview data
•    User Experience assessment tools (System Usability Scale, Single Ease Question)
Clinical Knowledge
•    Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) principles and practice
•    Dementia assessment and care considerations
•    How technology can support clinical interventions
Professional Skills
•    Effective communication with older adults and caregivers
•    Documentation and data organization
•    Collaborative teamwork in a research environment

COMPUTER ENGINEERING/CS 
Students will gain hands-on experience with:
Conversational AI & Chatbot Development
•    Chatbot architecture and dialogue design principles
•    IBM watsonx Assistant platform (industry-standard AI tool)
•    Creating dialogue flows using visual flow editors
•    Rule-based vs. AI-enhanced dialogue systems
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
•    Speech-to-Text (automatic speech recognition)
•    Text-to-Speech (voice synthesis) integration
•    Natural language understanding and dialogue management
Technical Implementation
•    Deploying applications to embedded devices (mini-tablet)
•    System testing, debugging, and troubleshooting
•    Technical documentation and code organization
User-Centered Design
•    Iterative design refinement based on user feedback
•    Usability testing and evaluation
•    Translating user needs into technical specifications

Project start
Fall 2026
Contact Information:
Mentor
Jeungok Choi
jeungokc@umass.edu
principal investigator
Name of project director or principal investigator
Jeungok Choi
Email address of project director or principal investigator
jeungokc@umass.edu
2 sp. | 0 appl.
Time commitment
5-7 h/wk
Field(s) of Study
Informatics (+4)
Community Health EducationComputer EngineeringInformaticsNursingPublic Health & Health Sciences