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The identification of assistive technologies being used to support the daily occupations of community-dwelling older adults with dementia: a cross-sectional pilot study
- Authors:
- BOGER Jennifer, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 9(1), 2014, pp.17-30.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
Purpose: Assistive technologies (ATs) have tremendous potential to support occupations (i.e. meaningful daily activities) impacted by changes in cognition caused by dementia. However, little is known about what or how ATs are in use in community settings. This research created and piloted guided interviews intended to capture what ATs are in use, factors that affect use and gaps in support from multiple stakeholders. Method: Family caregivers (n = 3) and occupational therapists (n = 10) were chosen as pilot respondents because of their relationship to care provision, understanding of how occupations are impacted by changes in cognition and role in AT procurement. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results: The interviews' structures enabled data to be grouped into distinct categories and organised easily. The data illustrated the types of analysis that could be done given a larger sample size. It appeared that interviews captured ATs that were in use, as well as areas of non-use and perceived difficulties. Respondents identified several unmet needs and provided suggestions for desired outcomes. Conclusions: While the interview guides must be refined and validated, they are able to capture rich and comprehensive data that could be used by multiple stakeholders, such as clinicians, engineers and caregiver education groups, to target AT development, procurement, education and policy. Implications for Rehabilitation:1) Structured interview guide developed and piloted that could be used to identify ATs in use in the community to support older adults with dementia from the viewpoints of multiple stakeholders; 2) These data could be used to: gain an understanding of AT use and non-use, discern differences in perception between the various stakeholders, and guide development, procurement, education and policy efforts. (Edited publisher abstract)
Interdisciplinary development of manual and automated product usability assessments for older adults with dementia: lessons learned
- Authors:
- BOGER Jennifer, TAATI Babak, MIHAILIDIS Alex
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 11(7), 2016, pp.581-587.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- London
The changes in cognitive abilities that accompany dementia can make it difficult to use everyday products that are required to complete activities of daily living. Products that are inherently more usable for people with dementia could facilitate independent activity completion, thus reducing the need for caregiver assistance. The objectives of this research were to: (1) gain an understanding of how water tap design impacted tap usability and (2) create an automated computerised tool that could assess tap usability. 27 older adults, who ranged from cognitively intact to advanced dementia, completed 1309 trials on five tap designs. Data were manually analysed to investigate tap usability as well as used to develop an automated usability analysis tool. Researchers collaborated to modify existing techniques and to create novel ones to accomplish both goals. This paper presents lessons learned through the course of this research, which could be applicable in the development of other usability studies, automated vision-based assessments and the development of assistive technologies for cognitively impaired older adults. Collaborative interdisciplinary teamwork, which included older adult with dementia participants, was key to enabling innovative advances that achieved the projects' research goals. Implications for Rehabilitation: a) Products that are implicitly familiar and usable by older adults could foster independent activity completion, potentially reducing reliance on a caregiver; b) The computer-based automated tool can significantly reduce the time and effort required to perform product usability analysis, making this type of analysis more feasible; c) Interdisciplinary collaboration can result in a more holistic understanding of assistive technology research challenges and enable innovative solutions. (Edited publisher abstract)