Abstract
Population ageing within Europe has major social and economic consequences. One of the most devastating conditions that predominantly affects older people is dementia. The SMART4MD (Support Monitoring and Reminder Technology for Mild Dementia) project aims to develop and test a health application specifically designed for people with mild dementia. The aim of this feasibility study was to evaluate the design of the SMART4MD protocol, including recruitment, screening, baseline examination and data management, and to test the SMART4MD application for functionality and usability before utilization in a full-scale study. The feasibility study tested the protocol and the app in Spain and Sweden. A total of nineteen persons with cognitive impairment, and their informal caregivers, individually performed a task-based usability test of the SMART4MD app model in a clinical environment, followed by four-week testing of the app in the home environment. By employing a user-centered design approach, the SMART4MD application proved to be an adequate and feasible interface for an eHealth intervention. In the final usability test, a score of 81% satisfied users was obtained. The possibility to test the application in all the procedures included in the study generated important information on how to present the technology to the users and how to improve these procedures.
Highlights
The number of older adults in the population as well as their proportion within the total population are increasing in many parts of the world
The first phase of the feasibility-usability study took place between 8–16 June 2017 at Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa (CST) and BTH. This session consisted of a short introduction followed by task-based individual usability testing with first the people with mild cognitive impairment (PwMCI) and the carer
According to the standard operating protocol for SMART4MD, the feasibility study was to be considered successfully completed if at least 15 of the 20 dyads (75%) were satisfied with use of the application
Summary
The number of older adults in the population as well as their proportion within the total population are increasing in many parts of the world. The risk for the individual to contract noncommunicable diseases and disability increases with age This may impair the ability of an individual to live his/her life in the way that is desired. The introduction to the tablet and SMART4MD app and user testing were carried out at the BTH facilities (Sweden) by a PhD student in Applied Health Technology with an educational background in Cognitive Science and Interaction Design. When a dyad arrived at the introduction session, they were first given general information about the setup of the feasibility-usability study as a whole followed by more specific information about the introductory meeting. A paper-based manual was seen by several dyads (n = 10) in the feasibility study as desirable as a complement to the introduction. The manual has been developed with an emphasis on the parts of the tablet and app where users in the feasibility study experienced difficulties
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