Department of Social and Welfare Studies, Division of Occupational Therapy, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden.
Department of Special Education, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
BMC Geriatr. 2019 Apr 23;19(1):116. doi: 10.1186/s12877-019-1128-9.
New technologies such as mobile/smartphones have the potential to help senior people perform everyday activities. However, senior people may find it difficult using mobile/smartphones, especially the digital calendar and short text message features. Therefore, senior people might need user-friendly, flexible, and interactive digital calendars that provide them with active reminders about their everyday activities. This study focuses on community dwelling seniors' experiences learning and using RemindMe, an interactive digital calendar with active reminders, as part of customizing an intervention appropriate for senior people with cognitive impairments.
Four focus groups were conducted with 20 community dwelling seniors (11 men and 9 women) who all had used RemindMe for six weeks. The focus groups were tape recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using content analysis.
For participants in this study, using a calendar was an essential part of their everyday lives, but only a few had experiences using a digital calendar. Although the participants described RemindMe as easy to use, they had a difficult time incorporating RemindMe into their daily routines. In part, these difficulties were the result of the participants needing to change their mobile/smartphone routines. Some participants felt that using an interactive digital calendar was a sign of modernity allowing them to take part in the society at large, but others felt that their inability to use the technology was due to their age, dependence, and loss of function. Participants found that receiving active reminders through short text messages followed by actively acknowledging the reminder helped them perform more everyday life activities. This feature gave them a higher sense of independence and control.
Community dwelling seniors found that RemindMe was easy to learn and to use, although they also found it challenging to integrate into their everyday lives. For senior people to make the effort to develop new routines for mobile/smartphone use, a prerequisite for using a digital calendar, they need to be motivated and believe that the technology will make their lives better.
移动/智能手机等新技术有可能帮助老年人完成日常活动。然而，老年人可能会发现使用移动/智能手机很困难，尤其是数字日历和短信功能。因此，老年人可能需要用户友好、灵活和互动的数字日历，为他们提供有关日常活动的主动提醒。本研究专注于社区居住的老年人在学习和使用 RemindMe（一种具有主动提醒功能的互动数字日历）方面的经验，这是为认知障碍老年人定制干预措施的一部分。
对 20 名社区居住的老年人（11 名男性和 9 名女性）进行了 4 次焦点小组讨论，他们都使用 RemindMe 六周。对焦点小组进行了录音、逐字转录，并使用内容分析法进行了分析。
对于本研究的参与者来说，使用日历是他们日常生活的重要组成部分，但只有少数人有使用数字日历的经验。尽管参与者表示 RemindMe 易于使用，但他们难以将其融入日常生活中。在某种程度上，这些困难是由于参与者需要改变他们的移动/智能手机习惯所致。一些参与者认为使用互动数字日历是一种现代化的标志，可以让他们参与整个社会，但其他参与者则认为他们无法使用技术是由于他们的年龄、依赖和功能丧失。参与者发现，通过短信接收主动提醒，然后主动确认提醒，有助于他们完成更多的日常生活活动。这一功能让他们感到更高的独立性和控制力。
社区居住的老年人发现 RemindMe 易于学习和使用，尽管他们也发现将其融入日常生活具有挑战性。为了让老年人努力养成使用移动/智能手机的新习惯（使用数字日历的前提），他们需要有动力并相信技术会使他们的生活更美好。
