Design Requirements for Financial and Legal Planning Platforms to support Care Partners of People Living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundPeople living with Alzheimer’s Disease or related dementias (ADRD) and their care partners (e.g. family, friends) experience legal and financial planning challenges. Technology‐based interventions have the potential to mitigate these challenges. However, care partners have reported discontinuing use of currently available technology‐based interventions because they did not align with their needs, were not relevant, or were not available when needed. This persistent need for solutions personalized to care partner needs can be met through participatory design (PD), which engages end users in collaborative design exercises. Our objectives were to conduct PD with ADRD care partners to design a web‐based financial and legal planning prototype that meets care partner needs.MethodWe enrolled two groups of designers (n = 5/group). Participants were recruited nationally through community partners. We used phone screenings to confirm that participants were self‐identified current or former care partners of someone living with ADRD, had internet access, were 18 or older, and spoke English. Design teams will complete 5 co‐design sessions across 6 months, with at least 4 weeks between each design session. Sessions 1‐3 have focused on problem identification, generating solutions, and solution convergence. Sessions 4 and 5 will focus on prototyping and evaluating the final prototype. Team members individually reviewed design session recordings to extract key design requirements. Discrepancies were resolved through consensus discussion.ResultParticipants (n = 10) cared for a spouse (80%) and were from Wisconsin, Texas, and California. Sessions 1‐3 generated 8 key design requirements. Participants wanted a tool that would help them 1) Learn, including learning new information; 2) Organize, including organizing existing information; 3) Act, including executing to‐do lists; and 4) Connect, including gaining access to existing resources. Participants wanted a tool characterized by 5) Privacy, including keeping their information safe; 6) Flexibility, including addressing their unique needs; 7) Peace of mind, including feeling in control of their responsibilities; and 8) Sustainability, including tool helpfulness over time.ConclusionThe results of the first three design sessions shed light on current unmet needs of ADRD caregivers, and can guide the development of financial and legal planning technologies for ADRD care partners.