Clinical trial · Interventional
Using Virtual Counselors to Overcome Genetic Literacy Barriers
Using Virtual Counselors to Overcome Genetic Literacy Barriers: Project VICKY
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
A Relational Agent (RA) "virtual counselor" (VICKY: VIrtual Counselor for Knowing Your Family History) has been developed to collect family health history information for common health conditions including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension and various cancers. In this study, the investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to compare the efficacy of using VICKY to the existing My Family Health Portrait (MFHP) tool for collecting family health history information among an underserved primary care patient population. The primary aims of the study are to 1) evaluate the efficacy of VICKY versus MFHP for collecting accurate family health histories and 2) determine whether accuracy varies as a function of health literacy. This project will obtain validation data on the efficacy of both VICKY and MFHP for collecting accurate family history data among an underserved patient population, in two languages (English and Spanish). The study will determine whether a virtual counselor can overcome many of the existing barriers to using traditional web-based family history tools.
Conditions
Conditions (4)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Diabetes | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Heart Disease | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Stroke | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| MFHP | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| VICKY | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- VICKY
- description
- Relational agent, "virtual counselor" for collecting family health history (VICKY: VIrtual Counselor for Knowing Your Family History).
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: VICKY
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- MFHP
- description
- Online family health history collection tool (MFHP: My Family Health Portrait).
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: MFHP
Primary outcomes (2)
- measure
- Accuracy of health conditions id'd (interview w/ genetic counselor gold standard. health conditions id'd by VICKY or MFHP id'd by genetic counselor (true +) divided by health conditions captured by genetic counselor (false - plus true +)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 21 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * 21 years of age or older; * current Boston Medical Center patient - must have an upcoming returning patient appointment at Boston Medical Center or affiliated clinic within 3 months of recruitment; * speaks English and/or Spanish. Exclusion Criteria: * Under 21 years of age; * not a current patient of Boston Medical Center or affiliated clinic; * unable to speak English and/or Spanish.
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDWang C, Paasche-Orlow MK, Bowen DJ, Cabral H, Winter MR, Norkunas Cunningham T, Trevino-Talbot M, Toledo DM, Cortes DE, Campion M, Bickmore T. Utility of a virtual counselor (VICKY) to collect family health histories among vulnerable patient populations: A randomized controlled trial. Patient Educ Couns. 2021 May;104(5):979-988. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2021.02.034. Epub 2021 Feb 18. PMID 33750594