Users’ and professionals’ contributions in the process of designing an easy-to-use videophone for people with dementia

Abstract

An easy-to-use videophone was viewed as an important device that could support people with dementia in making videophone calls without assistance. It was also viewed as a product that significant others could use for monitoring the person with dementia, for example to judge the well-being of the person. But monitoring should be used with caution and not without the consent of the person with dementia. It was viewed as important that the videophone be introduced in an early stage of the disease in order to facilitate learning, so that the person can get used to the new way of making telephone calls and incorporate the new habit in his/her routines. In order to motivate people with dementia to start using a videophone, it was recommended that the videophone should be introduced as a product which is a pleasure to use, and not as a compensation for impairment or to solve a problem.

Exploring the usability of a videophone mock-up for persons with dementia and their significant others

“…The needs of the target group had been well documented in the form of a requirement specification and a design concept that had been evaluated using focus groups with health care professionals, persons with dementia, and their significant others [1,12]. There were some challenges translating these requirements into technical functions in the videophone mock-up.…”

“…When the mock-up was to be set up, the findings from the focus groups [12] provided insight on how this should be done. For example, the participants recommended that the SOS button on the top of the screen should be an icon in the contact list in order to be easier to find and use.…”

“…Persons with dementia might not only have difficulty handling an ordinary telephone; they might also have difficulty visualising the person they wish to talk to when she or he is not present as well as to hear, interpret, and understand what is said in the conversation [12,13]. Moreover, talking on the telephone might be experienced as an abstract action that makes it difficult to relate to the person spoken to [2,3].…”

“…The method comprises four phases. The first three phases have been reported in two earlier articles [1,12]. First, the need of a videophone and the users’ potential for managing a videophone was examined.…”

“…The significant others wanted to be able to monitor the persons with dementia when they were away from home in order to check that everything was well; however, the persons with dementia explicitly underscored that they did not want to be monitored. The professionals acknowledged the ethical aspects of tracking and monitoring persons with dementia, and they pointed out that it is important that technology is not misused [12]. …”