Navigating Barriers: Disability, Healthcare Information Seeking, and AI‐Enabled Chatbots

Disabled and chronically ill populations experience significant barriers to navigating the healthcare system, including communication, attitudinal, and social barriers. Artificial intelligence (AI) may enable disabled and chronically ill individuals to mitigate these barriers. However, most literature exploring the use of AI in healthcare focuses on use by providers and institutions. A growing body of library and information science (LIS) research examines how disabled and chronically ill populations use technologies to manage their health and as tools for information access and communication support (Chen 2016; Costello & Murillo, 2014; Lundy, 2024; St. Jean, 2017). This poster reports developing doctoral student research investigating how disabled and chronically ill populations utilize AI‐enabled chatbots as tools to navigate the healthcare system and manage their health. Semi‐structured interviews are being conducted with a diverse sample of n = 25 disabled and chronically ill participants. Guided by core principles of disability justice, we plan to conduct thematic analysis of the interview data. Our work aims to provide a critical understanding of the chatbot‐facilitated information practices of disabled and chronically ill populations, and to contribute key design considerations for future technologies that support the health and well‐being of these populations.