Assessing older adults' perceptions of sensor data and designing visual displays for ambient environments. An...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Focus Theme: Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) and Smart Home data integration into Electronic Health Records (EHRs).
• Growing need for remote health monitoring solutions for older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• Characterize older adults' perceived usefulness of in-home sensor data.
• Develop novel visual displays for AAL sensor data for EHR integration.

Main Methods:

• Semi-structured interviews with community-dwelling older adults.
• Two design iterations with participant feedback on simulated fall data displays.
• Thematic analysis of interview transcripts to identify data usefulness themes.

Main Results:

• Identified three key themes: perceived usefulness for health management, influencing factors, and display usefulness.
• Visual displays deemed useful for family members and healthcare providers.
• Developed three novel visual displays based on user feedback, AAL research, and graphic design principles.

Conclusions:

• Personal activity data can aid in monitoring health and detecting early illness signs.
• Visual displays may enhance connectivity between family and healthcare providers via shared understanding of activity levels.
• Integrating informal and formal caregiving networks through shared data can improve communication and shared decision-making.