A Virtual Agent to Support Individuals Living With Physical and Mental Comorbidities: Co-Design and Acceptability Testing.

Patients did not explicitly separate mental and physical health needs, although the content they developed for the virtual agent had a clear psychological approach. Supported self-management delivered via an autonomous virtual agent was acceptable to the participants. A co-design process has allowed the research team to identify key design principles, content, and functionality to underpin an autonomous agent for delivering self-management support to older adults living with COPD and potentially other LTCs.