Zamir Sonam, Allman Felicity, Hennessy Catherine Hagan, Taylor Adrian Haffner, Jones Ray Brian
School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom.
School of Medical Education, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2021 Feb 12;12:540048. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.540048. eCollection 2021.
Video-calls have proven to be useful for older care home residents in improving socialization and reducing loneliness. Nonetheless, to facilitate the acceptability and usability of a new technological intervention, especially among people with dementia, there is a need for user-led design improvements. The current study conducted focus groups with an embedded activity with older people to allow for a person-centered design of a video-call intervention.
Twenty-eight residents across four care homes in the South West of England participated in focus groups to aesthetically personalize and 'dress-up' the equipment used in a video-call intervention. Each care home was provided with a 'Skype on Wheels' (SoW) device, a wheelable 'chassis' comprising an iPad or tablet for access to Skype, and a telephone handset. During the focus group, residents were encouraged to participate in an activity using colorful materials to 'dress-up' SoW. Comments before, during and after the 'dress up' activity were audio recorded. Framework analysis was used to analyze the focus group data.
Older people, including seven with dementia were able to interact with and implement design changes to SoW through aesthetic personalization. Themes arising from the data included estrangement, anthropomorphism, reminiscence, personalization, need for socialization versus fear of socialization and attitudes toward technology. After this brief exposure to SoW, residents expressed the likelihood of using video-calls for socialization in the future.
Care home residents enjoy engaging with new technologies when given the opportunity to interact with it, to personalize it and to understand its purpose. Low cost aesthetic personalization of technologies can improve their acceptability, usability, and implementation within complex care environments.
视频通话已被证明对养老院的老年居民在促进社交和减少孤独感方面很有用。尽管如此，为了提高新技术干预措施的可接受性和可用性，尤其是在患有痴呆症的人群中，需要进行以用户为主导的设计改进。当前的研究针对老年人开展了焦点小组并嵌入了一项活动，以便对视频通话干预措施进行以人为本的设计。
英格兰西南部四个养老院的28名居民参与了焦点小组，对视频通话干预中使用的设备进行美学个性化设计并“装扮”。每个养老院都配备了一个“移动Skype”（SoW）设备，这是一个可移动的“底盘”，包括一台用于接入Skype的iPad或平板电脑以及一个电话听筒。在焦点小组期间，鼓励居民参与一项使用彩色材料“装扮”SoW的活动。在“装扮”活动之前、期间和之后的评论都进行了录音。采用框架分析法对焦点小组数据进行分析。
包括7名患有痴呆症的老年人在内，能够通过美学个性化与SoW进行互动并实施设计变更。数据中出现的主题包括疏离感、拟人化、怀旧、个性化、社交需求与社交恐惧以及对技术的态度。在短暂接触SoW之后，居民表示未来有可能使用视频通话进行社交。
当有机会与新技术互动、使其个性化并了解其用途时，养老院居民乐于参与其中。对技术进行低成本的美学个性化设计可以提高其在复杂护理环境中的可接受性、可用性和实施效果。
