We present a case study that informs the creation of a 'companion guide' providing transparency to potential non-expert users of a ubiquitous machine learning (ML) platform during the initial onboarding. Ubiquitous platforms (e.g., smart home systems, including smart meters and conversational agents) are increasingly commonplace and increasingly apply complex ML methods. Understanding how non-ML experts comprehend these platforms is important in supporting participants in making an informed choice about if and how they adopt these platforms. To aid this decision-making process, we created a companion guide for a home health platform through an iterative user-centred-design process, seeking additional input from platform experts at all stages of the process to ensure the accuracy of explanations. This user-centred and expert informed design process highlights the need to present the platform's entire ecosystem at an appropriate level for those with differing backgrounds to understand, in order to support informed consent and decision making.

Stairlifts are a widely-used technology in the home that help people with mobility issues to go up and down stairs. However, it is unclear how stairlifts are experienced by all household members and what this understanding implies for home healthcare technologies. We investigated the impact of stairlift installations on older adults' households in the UK through a qualitative study investigating the lived experience of the adoption and acceptance of this technology. Interviews and focus groups with primary users, household residents and service providers showed how the wider household identify misalignments between simplified stairlift installation models from service providers and describe a more complex, nuanced emotional journey which involves decision making, conflict and trauma and catharsis and independence. Findings provide transferrable outcomes for the smart home domain by highlighting the multi-resident home, the emotional intrusiveness of home healthcare technologies and the diversity that comes with providing care, unique to every household.

Gaining an understanding of people's diverse mental health needs is essential for informing the design of inclusive mental health technologies. However, conversations about mental health experiences can be challenging for both researchers and participants. We present the design of visual cards that illustrate an inclusive mental health concept to support researchers and participants in understanding and sharing mental health experiences. We illustrate the iterative design of the visual cards with our reflections and feedback from ethnically diverse participants. We found that designing the visual cards fostered insightful reflections within the design team regarding the roles of identity, gender, and ethnicity in designing culturally sensitive content and research. Participants from minority ethnic backgrounds valued the illustrative elements of the visual cards and highlighted the importance of supporting different languages and visual cultures. We discuss use cases for the visual cards and implications for designing culturally sensitive mental health technologies.

A detailed understanding of the mental health needs of people from refugee backgrounds is crucial for the design of inclusive mental health technologies. We present a qualitative account of the digital mental health experiences of women from refugee backgrounds. Working with community members and community workers of a charitable organisation for refugee women in the UK, we identify social and structural challenges, including loneliness and access to mental health technologies. Participants' accounts document their collective agency in addressing these challenges and supporting social connectedness and personal wellbeing in daily life: participants reported taking part in community activities as volunteers, sharing technological expertise, and using a wide range of non-mental health-focused technologies to support their mental health, from playing games to supporting religious practices. Our findings suggest that, rather than focusing only on individual self-care, research also needs to leverage community-driven approaches to foster social mental health experiences, from altruism to connectedness and belonging.

Although the use of voice assistants to support older adults at home shows promise, little is known about how the next generation of these devices, which also include displays, can support health and care needs. This question has become more important during COVID-19, when issues of social isolation for older adults have been exacerbated. During social distancing measures in the UK, eleven older adult households (16 participants) were interviewed before receiving an Amazon Echo Show, shortly after receiving it, and after three months of use. We identify ways in which this multi-modal device is used by people in social isolation to support social, care, and information needs in the home. We frame these findings within the growing research area of smart homes for health and care, and provide implications for the adoption, use and acceptance of these devices to support aging in place together.