Abstract
Being familiar with all the benefits of e-Health and the strategic plan for the Slovenian health sector’s informatization, Telekom Slovenia and the Faculty of Medicine from the University of Maribor, along with other partners, have initiated an e-Health project. The project group is developing various e-Health services that are based on modern ICT (information and communications technology) solutions and will be available on several screens. In order to meet the users’ needs and expectations and, consequently, achieve the high acceptance of e-Health services, the user-centered design (UCD) approach was employed in the e-Health project. However, during the research it was found that conventional UCD methods are not completely appropriate for older adults: the target population of the e-Health services. That is why the selected UCD methods were modified and adapted for older adults. The modified UCD methods used in the research study are presented in this paper. Using the results of the adapted UCD methods, a prototype for a service named MedReminder was developed. The prototype was evaluated by a group of 12 study participants. The study participants evaluated the MedReminder service as acceptable with a good potential for a high adoption rate among its target population, i.e., older adults.
Highlights
The number of information and communication technology (ICT) users worldwide is dramatically increasing
The project group is developing various e-Health services that are based on modern ICT
All four user-centered design (UCD) methods were adapted for the intended users of the MedReminder service, i.e., older adults
Summary
The number of information and communication technology (ICT) users worldwide is dramatically increasing. Kummervold et al, have discovered that the use of the internet as a source for health information is growing in all age groups and for both genders. Integrated telemedicine services for the remote monitoring of patients with chronic diseases, for home-care or for general practice care; Telecare services are intended for older adults in order to provide them with longer, easier and safer living in their homes. Institutions and organizations can spend enormous amounts of resources on e-Health projects that eventually fail This usually happens when the e-Health services do not meet the needs and expectations of their users [7]. This paper describes how four UCD methods (wants and needs analysis, focus groups, interviews and SUS questionnaire) have been modified to support the research study for the e-Health project for the target population. The four UCD methods were modified and adapted for older adults
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