| 1. |
- Scandurra, Isabella, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
-
Participatory design with seniors : Design of future services and iterative refinements of interactive eHealth services for old citizens
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Journal of Medical Internet Research. - Toronto, Kanada : JMIR Publications Inc.. - 1438-8871. ; 15:10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: There is an increasing social isolation among the elderly today. This will be an even larger issue in the future with growing numbers of elderly and less resources, for example, in terms of economy and staff. Loneliness and social isolation can, however, be addressed in several ways using different interactive eHealth services. Objective: This case study investigated novel eHealth services for the elderly, and their usage of a social interactive device designed especially for them. Methods: In this work, we used an innovative mobile communication device connected to the television (TV), which worked as a remotely controlled large interactive screen. The device was tested by 8 volunteers who visited a senior center. They were between 65 and 80 years of age and lived in their own homes. Throughout the 1.5 year-long project, 7 design workshops were held with the seniors and the staff at the center. During these workshops, demands and preferences regarding existing and new services were gathered. At the end of the project the participants' experience of the device and of the services was elaborated in 3 workshops to get ideas for improved or new meaningful services. During the data analyses and development process, what seniors thought would be useful in relation to what was feasible was prioritized by the development company. Results: Regarding daily usage, the seniors reported that they mainly used the service for receiving information from the senior center and for communication with other participants in the group or with younger relatives. They also read information about events at the senior center and they liked to perform a weekly sent out workout exercise. Further, they played games such as Memory and Sudoku using the device. The service development focused on three categories of services: cognitive activities, social activities, and physical activities. A cognitive activity service that would be meaningful to develop was a game for practicing working memory. In the social activities category, the seniors wanted different quizzes and multi-player games. For physical activities, the seniors desired more workout exercises and suggestions for guided walking routes. A new category, "information and news", was suggested since they lacked services like senior-customized global and local news. Conclusions: This study showed the importance of input from a group of seniors when designing new services for elderly citizens. Besides input to interactive eHealth service development for seniors, this study showed the importance of a social context around such work. The seniors were very engaged throughout the project and workshops were frequently visited and the seniors became friends. The high amount of input from the seniors could be explained in terms of social inclusion; they belonged to a group and each member was considered important for the work. The friendly workshop atmosphere facilitated new ideas and redesign of the services.
|
|
| 2. |
- Sjölinder, Marie, et al.
(författare)
-
Indoor and outdoor social alarms : Understanding users' perspectives
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Journal of Medical Internet Research. - : JMIR Publications Inc.. - 1438-8871. ; 16:3, s. e9-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The elderly population is increasing and there is a need to provide care and safety at a high level with limited resources. New social alarm solutions may contribute to safety and independence for many elderly. However, it is important to understand the needs within the user group. This work studied social alarms in a broad sense and from several user perspectives. In the first study, social alarm use and its aspects were investigated. To understand where there may be problems and weaknesses, users, caregivers, managers of municipalities, and personnel at alarm centers were interviewed. The interviews helped identify a number of problems. For municipalities, the processes of procuring new alarms and managing their organization were found to be complex. The effect of this was that the same social alarm systems had been ordered over and over again without taking into account new user needs or new technical solutions. For alarm users, one large problem was that the alarms had very limited reach and were designed for indoor use only. This has resulted in users hesitating to leave their homes, which in turn has negative effects due to lack of physical activity and fewer social contacts. One important result from the first study was the need for a social alarm solution that worked outdoors. In a second study, needs regarding outdoor social alarms were investigated. The results from this study showed that wearable outdoor alarms must be easy to use, provide communication, and be well designed. Finally, these alarms must work both indoors and outdoors, and the user should not have to worry about where he/she is or who is acting on an alarm.
|
|
