Older people as partners in assistive technology research: The use of focus groups in the design process

The brand is a powerful representational and identification-led asset that can be used to engage staff in creative, sustainable and developmental activities. Being a brand the result of, foremost, a design exercise, it is fair to suppose that it can be a relevant resource for the advancement of design literacy within organisational contexts. The main objective of this paper was to test and validate an interaction structure for an informed co-design process on visual brand artefacts. To carry on the empirical study, a university was chosen as case study as these contexts are generally rich in employee diversity. A non-functional prototype was designed, and walkthroughs were performed in five focus groups held with staff. The latter evidenced a need/wish to engage with basic design principles and high willingness to participate in the creation of brand design artefacts, mostly with the purposeof increasing its consistent use and innovate in its representation possibilities, whilst augmenting the brand’s socially responsible values.

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Involving people with dementia and their informal caregivers in the development process of assistive technology: Description and evaluation of a user-centered design (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.18319 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Iris A.G.M. Geerts ◽

Liselore J.A.E Snaphaan ◽

Inge M.B. Bongers

Keyword(s):

Focus Groups ◽

Assistive Technology ◽

Field Study ◽

Development Process ◽

Technology Development ◽

Informal Caregivers ◽

Assistive Technologies ◽

User Centered Design ◽

People With Dementia ◽

User Centered

BACKGROUND Despite the potential value of assistive technology to support people with dementia (PWD) in everyday activities, use of these technologies is still limited. To ensure that assistive technologies better address the specific needs and daily context of PWD and their informal caregivers, it is particularly important to involve them in all different phases of assistive technology development. The literature rarely describes the involvement of PWD throughout the development process of assistive technologies, which makes it difficult to further reflect on and improve active involvement of PWD. OBJECTIVE This two-part study aimed to gather insights on the user-centered design (UCD) applied in the development process of the alpha prototype of the serious game PLAYTIME by describing the methods and procedures of the UCD as well as evaluating the UCD from the perspective of all involved stakeholders. METHODS The first three phases of the user-driven Living Lab of Innovate Dementia 2.0 were applied to directly involve PWD and their informal caregivers through qualitative research methods, including focus groups and a context-field study, in the development of the alpha prototype of PLAYTIME from exploration to design to testing. After the testing phase, a total number of 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with PWD, their informal caregivers and the project members of PLAYTIME to evaluate the applied UCD from the perspective of all involved stakeholders. The interviews addressed five of the principles for successful UCD and the appropriateness of the different methods used in the focus groups and context-field study. RESULTS Results of the interviews focused, amongst others, on the level of involvement of PWD and their informal caregivers in the development process, the input provided by PWD and their informal caregivers, the value of early prototyping, continuous iterations of design solutions and in-context testing, the role of dementia care professionals in the multidisciplinary project team, and the appropriateness of open- and closed-ended questions for obtaining input from PWD and their informal caregivers. CONCLUSIONS The description and evaluation of the UCD applied in the development process of the alpha prototype of PLAYTIME resulted in several insights on the relevance of UCD for all involved stakeholders as well as how PWD can be involved in the subsequent phases of usable and meaningful assistive technology development.

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Giving a Voice to Students with Disabilities to Design Library Experiences: An Ethnographic Study

Societies ◽

10.3390/soc11020061 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 61

Author(s):

Monica Cerdan Chiscano

Keyword(s):

Resource Allocation ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Students With Disabilities ◽

Design Process ◽

Collaborative Research ◽

Management Style ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

Experience Design ◽

Research Project

Although librarians generally display an inclusive management style, barriers to students with disabilities remain widespread. Against this backdrop, a collaborative research project called Inclusive Library was launched in 2019 in Catalonia, Spain. This study empirically tests how involving students with disabilities in the experience design process can lead to new improvements in users’ library experience. A mix of qualitative techniques, namely focus groups, ethnographic techniques and post-experience surveys, were used to gain insights from the 20 libraries and 20 students with disabilities collaborating in the project. Based on the participants’ voices and follow-up experiences, the study makes several suggestions on how libraries can improve their accessibility. Results indicate that ensuring proper resource allocation for accessibility improves students with disabilities’ library experience. Recommendations for library managers are also provided.

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The concept of health in older age: views of older people and health professionals

Australian Health Review ◽

10.1071/ah070642 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 642 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Melita J Giummarra ◽

Betty Haralambous ◽

Kirsten Moore ◽

Joan Nankervis

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Older Age ◽

Concept Of Health ◽

Concepts Of Health ◽

Health Promoting ◽

Barriers And Motivators ◽

Holistic Manner

This study aimed to explore how older people and health professionals conceptualise health in older age. Thirty-six older people and 41 health professionals participated in 10 focus groups (five with older people and five with health professionals) and discussed concepts of health, the modifiable aspects of health, and barriers and motivators to undertaking health-promoting behaviour change. Both older people and health professionals were found to conceptualise health in a holistic manner. While health professionals tended to place the source of poor health on failures of social connectedness and poor service delivery, older people stressed the importance of taking ownership of one?s own health and actively seeking out health promoting activities and services.

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Developing a recovery-focused therapy for older people with bipolar disorder: a qualitative focus group study

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049829 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. e049829

Author(s):

Elizabeth Tyler ◽

Fiona Lobban ◽

Rita Long ◽

Steven H Jones

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Focus Group ◽

Older People ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Later Life ◽

Focus Group Study ◽

Age Related ◽

Health Related ◽

Age Related Changes

ObjectivesAs awareness of bipolar disorder (BD) increases and the world experiences a rapid ageing of the population, the number of people living with BD in later life is expected to rise substantially. There is no current evidence base for the effectiveness of psychological interventions for older adults with BD. This focus group study explored a number of topics to inform the development and delivery of a recovery-focused therapy (RfT) for older adults with BD.DesignA qualitative focus group study.SettingThree focus groups were conducted at a university in the North West of England.ParticipantsEight people took part in the focus groups; six older adults with BD, one carer and one friend.ResultsParticipant’s responses clustered into six themes: (1) health-related and age-related changes in later life, (2) the experience of BD in later life, (3) managing and coping with BD in later life, (4) recovery in later life, (5) seeking helping in the future and (6) adapting RfT for older people.ConclusionsParticipants reported a range of health-related and age-related changes and strategies to manage their BD. Participants held mixed views about using the term ‘recovery’ in later life. Participants were in agreement that certain adaptations were needed for delivering RfT for older adults, based on their experience of living with BD in later life. The data collected as part of the focus groups have led to a number of recommendations for delivering RfT for older adults with BD in a randomised controlled trial (Clinical Trial Registration: ISRCTN13875321).

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Can adapting the homes of older people and providing assistive technology pay its way?

Age and Ageing ◽

10.1093/ageing/afh190 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 33 (6) ◽

pp. 571-576 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

P. Lansley

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Assistive Technology

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Diffusion of assistive technology among older people: A case of the House of the Present

Gerontechnology ◽

10.4017/gt.2017.16.4.006.00 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 242-248

Author(s):

E. Zwierenberg ◽

E. Finnema ◽

A. Dijkstra ◽

M. Hagendoor ◽

R. Sanderman

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Assistive Technology

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Cardiovascular disease risk prediction in older people: a qualitative study

British Journal of General Practice ◽

10.3399/bjgp.2020.1038 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. BJGP.2020.1038

Author(s):

Denise Ann Taylor ◽

Katharine Wallis ◽

Sione Feki ◽

Sione Segili Moala ◽

Manusiu He-Naua Esther Latu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cardiovascular Disease ◽

Risk Assessment ◽

Qualitative Study ◽

Older People ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Risk Prediction ◽

Heart Attack ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Cvd Risk

Background: Despite cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk prediction equations becoming more widely available for people aged 75 years and over, views of older people on CVD risk assessment are unknown. Aim: To explore older people’s views on CVD risk prediction and its assessment. Design and Setting: Qualitative study of community dwelling older New Zealanders. Methods: We purposively recruited a diverse group of older people. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Results: Thirty-nine participants (mean age 74 years) of Māori, Pacific, South Asian and European ethnicities participated in one of 26 interviews or three focus groups. Three key themes emerged, (1) Poor knowledge and understanding of cardiovascular disease and its risk assessment, (2) Acceptability and perceived benefit of knowing and receiving advice on managing personal cardiovascular risk; and (3) Distinguishing between CVD outcomes; stroke and heart attack are not the same. Most participants did not understand CVD terms but were familiar with ‘heart attack,’ ‘stroke’ and understood lifestyle risk factors for these events. Participants valued CVD outcomes differently, fearing stroke and disability which might adversely affect independence and quality of life, but being less concerned about a heart attack, perceived as causing less disability and swifter death. These findings and preferences were similar across ethnic groups. Conclusion: Older people want to know their CVD risk and how to manage it, but distinguish between CVD outcomes. To inform clinical decision making for older people, risk prediction tools should provide separate event types rather than just composite outcomes.

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