Currently accepted at: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Sep 3, 2025
Date Accepted: Aug 31, 2026
This paper has been accepted and is currently in production.
It will appear shortly on 10.2196/83397
The final accepted version (not copyedited yet) is in this tab.
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Perceptions, Attitudes and Use of the COVID-19 WhatsApp Chatbot in Malawi: Reflections from a National Workshop
ABSTRACT
Background:
Digital health innovations have demonstrated significant potential in enhancing global community health preparedness and response to emerging disease outbreaks. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Malawi adopted a variety of digital health tools to strengthen its public health preparedness and response. One of the digital health tools used during the COVID-19 pandemic response in Malawi was a chatbot.
Objective:
This paper presents perceptions, attitudes, and use of the "Malawi COVID-19 WhatsApp chatbot" among health workers and members of the general public
Methods:
A mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, was employed in a national workshop setting. The workshop included 18 health workers and 22 members of the general public as the study sample size. The sample size was purposefully selected from 10 health districts that had the highest COVID-19 disease burden. Health workers were selected from 10 district health hospitals. And members of the general public were engaged and selected through community-based organisations. Quantitative data were collected using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) tool and the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) tool. Qualitative data were collected through guided group discussions
Results:
The findings indicate that the Malawi COVID-19 WhatsApp chatbot was well-received, with an overall TAM mean score of 4.33 (SD=0.82) out of 5. The key dimensions included perceived usefulness (3.69, SD=0.85), perceived ease of use (4.27, SD=0.86), attitudes toward use (4.23, SD=0.83), and behavioural intention (4.19, SD=0.81). The MARS assessment further supported these results, with the Malawi COVID-19 WhatsApp chatbot achieving an above-average overall mean score of 3.84 (SD=0.74) out of 5.
Conclusions:
The Malawi COVID-19 WhatsApp chatbot effectively supported Malawi’s COVID-19 response, reinforcing the potential of digital health innovations in managing public health crises.
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