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Wiki source code of Environments

Last modified by Tim Huisman on 2022/04/05 09:13
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1 This section contains a PACT analysis that explores the environment and target audience. We have focused our efforts on people with dementia, but have also considered elderly people in general, as most people with dementia fall within this age range.
2
3 == People ==
4
5 The target audience is people with dementia. Dementia comes in multiple stages: [[(Dementia Central, 2020)>>https://www.dementiacarecentral.com/aboutdementia/facts/stages/]]
6
7 * Pre-dementia: Some subtle signs appear
8 * Early dementia: Starts becoming noticeable for others
9 * Middle dementia: The situation worsens as barely any new information is being registered in memory.
10 * Late: Continuous assistance is necessary as patients may wander off or fall down due to lack of orientation and/or coordination.
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12 Besides symptoms of dementia, other characteristics of the elderly should be considered when designing the systems, including but not limited to:
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14 * Impaired vision
15 * Impaired hearing
16 * Cognitive inability to comprehend new technology
17 * Lack of prior basic knowledge to engage with technology
18 * Motor issues including speech impediments
19
20 == Activities ==
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22 These activities can help slow down progression or alleviate symptoms of dementia: [[(Wikipedia)>>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia#Psychological_and_psychosocial_therapies]], [[(ReJAM)>>https://rejam.tudelft.nl/?q=node/4]]
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24 * Reminiscence therapy: therapy that triggers the recall of memories
25 * Animal-assisted therapy: to provide patients with a primal familiar feeling and helps them connect with nature [[(Han et al., 2015)>>https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1533317515598857]]
26 * Music and Exercise: they serve multiple goals such as increasing physical activity and cognitive stimulation among others.
27
28 == Contexts ==
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30 People with dementia can have residence in a care centre or their own home.
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32 ==== Care Center ====
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34 Residents of a care centre conduct their activities in both an **individual setting** as well as in a **group setting**. Different settings come with their own challenges.
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36 * Individual setting: there is no direct supervision, so it may take a while for a caretaker to reach the patient. However, whenever a caretaker is present, the patient usually gets their full deserved attention.
37 * Group setting: there is direct supervision at all times, but if an accident occurs involving a patient from the group who needs immediate attention and urgent care, this leaves the rest of the group hanging which diminishes the effectiveness.
38
39 ==== Own home ====
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41 Patients with dementia who reside in their own home are usually in one of three settings:
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43 1. Family (living with children and/or spouse) possibly having a health worker coming once or twice a week
44 1. Sole with nearby assistance
45 1. Sole with no assistance
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47 Patients in the earlier stages of dementia tend to go about their day and try to hide their symptoms from their loved ones. If a loved one finds out, they may not seek help for them out of being afraid of the stigma that comes with dementia. This occurs more often in a family situation than in situations where the patient is alone. In the second situation, the patient may have access to a nurse on call, but stigma, the cognitive capability of seeking help and the limited availability of nurses makes the care insufficient for these patients in the earlier phases of dementia. This elevates their feeling of loneliness. In later phases, they are keener to seek help as they will prompt nurses to show up to feel less lonely.
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49 == Technologies ==
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51 Presently, there is supporting technology available, such as personal computers, phones and tablets, but the patients may experience difficulty in providing input and processing output from the devices that embed this technology.
52
53 ==== Input ====
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55 Pressing buttons, using a mouse, using touchscreens, talking to chatbots, or vocalizing one's desire to engage with supporting technology is difficult as it requires a significant amount of patience from loved ones and healthcare workers alike and is sometimes even outright impossible. In cases this is possible, the reduced recall from short-term memory and reduced digital literacy of these patients can cause the device to respond to unintentional implicit inputs.
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57 ==== Output ====
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59 Patients often experience hardships processing text and audio output from the supporting devices. In addition, changes to the environment, like the introduction of a robot, provoke feelings of strong unease and unfamiliarity.