Evaluating an interactive tool that reasons about quality of life to support life planning by older people

In response to the lack of digital support for older people to plan their lives for quality of life, research was undertaken to co-design and then evaluate a new digital tool that combined interactive guidance for life planning with a computerised model of quality of life.

First, a workshop-based process for co-designing the SCAMPI tool with older people is reported. A first version of this tool was then evaluated over eight consecutive weeks by nine older people living in their own homes. Four of these people were living with Parkinson's disease, one with early-stage dementia, and four without any diagnosed chronic condition. Regular semi-structured interviews were undertaken with each individual older person and, where wanted, their life partner. A more in-depth exit interview was conducted at the end of the period of tool use. Themes arising from analyses of content from these interviews were combined with first-hand data collected from the tool's use to develop a description of how each older person used the tool over the 8 weeks.

The findings provided the first evidence that the co-designed tool, and in particular the computerised model, could offer some value to older people. Although some struggled to use the tool as it was designed, which led to limited uptake of the tool's suggestions, the older people reported factoring these suggestions into their longer-term planning, as health and/or circumstances might change.

The article contributes to the evolving discussion about how to deploy such digital technologies to support quality of life more effectively.