Usability evaluation of assistive technologies through qualitative research focusing on people with mild dementia

Abstract

The assistive technologies (ATs) are commonly used for the wellbeing of people with dementia (PWD). Research shows that current ATs are not performing to their best and high rate of AT abandonment still exist. Although empirical evaluations greatly impact AT success, yet only few studies investigated AT usability for PWD. To the best of authors knowledge there is no AT usability evaluation study conducted in the South Asia. Therefore a qualitative study is carried out to identify which AT factors encourage and discourage the PWD through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis is used to generate themes and sub-themes. The (happy users, non-happy users and technology and human care) emerged as three main themes while, (communication, monitoring and reminders) as popular AT types. Most PWD use ATs for socialization and health monitoring. Overall the PWD appreciated the role of ATs in their lives, but showed concerns about interface efficacy, function simplicity and elderly requirements adaptation. The already met and unmet needs of the PWD are also investigated. The AT producers should make user interface simpler and tailor future ATs to the specific requirements of the PWD. The user centred techniques should be adopted for the development of new ATs.

Evaluating the Facilitators, Barriers, and Medical Outcomes Commensurate with the Use of Assistive Technology to Support People with Dementia: A Systematic Review Literature

“…In the interest of brevity, only the first 60% will be listed. The intervention most often noted was an interview [3,[22][23][24][25]29,31,39,43,44,49,57,59,61,63,65]. Researchers interviewed users of AT (PWD and carers) in 16/48 studies (33%).…”

“…The most common form of bias was selection bias. Examples of selection bias were all: participants had experience with technology [23], same site [25,28,30,34], or a disproportionately large sample that was male [22,30,36]. These examples of bias limit the external validity of the results.…”

Recognition of preclinical signs of dementia: A qualitative study exploring the experiences of family carers and professional care assistants

“…In common with adjustments for other disabilities, these adjustments should be beneficial for all. Technological developments can empower citizens by designing in ease of use and anticipatory responsiveness (Asghar, Cang, & Yu, ).…”

Using sensor‐based technology for safety and independence – the experiences of people with dementia and their families

“…People with dementia, professionals and family members are often unaware of new technology and their applicability to dementia, due to top–down approaches to technology development and implementation , and there is a lack of solid validation of many of the technologies implemented in dementia care practice . Moreover, Dickinson and Gregor claim that we should be careful not to be presumptuous towards possibilities of new technology, for example sensor‐based digital technology, and always believe that it has positive effects.…”