Weichao Yuwen, PhD, RN, is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing and Healthcare Leadership at the University of Washington, Tacoma, WA (USA). Her research focuses on examining the interplay of culture and health and promoting health among historically oppressed individuals, families, and communities. She works with interdisciplinary collaborators to design, develop, and test technology-enabled health solutions with tailored symptom self- and family-management support in people with chronic health conditions and their families. Currently, she leads a research team in developing COCO (“Caring of Caregivers Online”), a hybrid family caregiver support system consisting of 1) the CocoBot mobile application with an artificially intelligent (AI) conversational agent (a “chatbot”) for family caregivers, and 2) COCO Provider Platform, an AI-enhanced and text-based platform for healthcare providers to directly provide on-demand support for caregivers. COCO provides family caregivers – particularly those with limited resources and high stress and burnout – with on-demand caregiving support and interactive self- and family-management skill development. The use of natural language processing technology makes COCO an accessible and cost-effective self-management platform, available 24/7 and tailored to the specific needs and preferences of underserved family caregivers, with additional personalized support provided by healthcare providers such as nurses. Dr. Yuwen was recently honored with a 2021 IFNA Rising Star in Family Nursing Award.
For more information contact IFNA member Dr. Weichao Yuwen at [email protected].
