The acceptability, adoption, and feasibility of a music application developed using participatory design for home-dwelling persons with dementia and their caregivers. The “Alight” app in the LIVE@Home.Path trial

Abstract

BackgroundMusic interventions for persons with dementia can improve health and interaction with caregivers, yet the reach is often restricted to institutions. We describe the participatory design process of a prototype music application for patients affiliated with a gerontopsychiatric hospital and evaluate the acceptability, adoption, and feasibility of use for dyads of home-dwelling persons with dementia and their informal caregivers.MethodsThe application “Alight” was developed following an iterative, expert-driven participatory design approach, which includes a requirement elicitation phase and two rounds of prototyping and testing in real-world settings. End users and stakeholders were involved in all steps, that is, workshops, interviews, field observation, ethnographic inquiries, and beta testing sessions with music therapists, patients, and caregivers in collaboration with a commercial music and technology company. The last prototyping and testing took place in the LIVE@Home.Path trial, a stepped-wedge multicomponent randomized controlled trial to improve resource utilization and caregiver burden in municipal dementia care during 2019–2021.ResultsMean age of the person with dementia in the LIVE@Home.Path trial was 82 years, 62% were female, and the majority had Alzheimer's dementia (44%) of mild severity (71%). Sixty-three dyads were offered Alight in the multicomponent intervention, of which 13% (n = 8) accepted use. The dyads accepting Alight did not differ in demographic and clinical characteristics compared to those not interested. The feasibility was high among those accepting Alight, 75% (n = 6) reported a positive impact on mood, 50% (n = 4) experienced a positive impact on activity, and 50% (n = 4) gooduser-friendliness. The adoption was high with daily use or use several times a week reported by 63% (n = 5). Obstacles emerged when updating the application in homes without wireless Wi-Fi, and some participants were unfamiliar with using touchscreens.ConclusionThe feasibility and adoption of the application were high and accepting dyads did not differ on demographic and clinical variables from those not reached. This suggests a high potential for utilization in dementia care. This study contributes methodologically to the field of participatory design and mHealth interventions by demonstrating a specific design approach that throughout the process successfully involved researchers, industry partners, health care practitioners, and end users.Clinical trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04043364.

Patient and Public Involvement in Technology-Related Dementia Research: Scoping Review

“…Most papers (26/31, 84%) described more than 1 type of activity. In addition to group activities, many conducted interviews [ 37 , 49 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 56 , 65 , 66 , 81 , 82 ], observations [ 54 , 57 , 62 , 65 , 81 , 82 ], or surveys or questionnaires [ 37 , 54 , 65 , 80 , 82 , 83 ]. A total of 19% (6/31) of the studies set up steering groups that were regularly involved in the research process, described variously as a research development group [ 53 ], living experience expert reference group [ 17 ], steering group [ 51 , 66 , 71 ], and patient advisory board [ 76 , 77 ], although details were minimal or absent about what this entailed.…”

“…Researchers’ time pressures—co-design or other involvement activities as time-consuming processes that can be difficult to manage alongside the time pressures of a research study [ 75 , 81 , 83 ]…”

Musicotherapy mobile applications: what level of evidence and potential role in psychiatric care? A systematic review

“…For more specialized services, such as geropsychiatry, Berge et al. ( 50 ) described in 2022 the prototype of the Alight application, which includes a musical intervention designed for the “dementia patient” and their “caregiver” dyad. The prototype of the application offers a “digital session” lasting 15–20 minutes, consisting of personalized music accompanied by custom-added images or films, aimed at stimulating musical memory.…”

Usability and Acceptability of Social Robot Pets Among Community-Dwelling Veterans Living With Dementia and Their Caregivers

“…To determine usability and acceptability, results were compared to a priori benchmarks selected based on comparable studies: ≥80% of Veterans use the pet often or daily 18 , 22 , 24 and ≥80% of caregivers would recommend a social robot pet to others and would encourage continued use of the pet by the Veteran. 18 , 21 Prior studies have not examined frequency of caregiver reminders/prompts as a component of usability, thus a pre-defined benchmark was not selected.…”