Development of a Tablet-Based Outpatient Care Application for People With Dementia: Interview and Workshop Study

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Gerontology

Background:

• Dementia management poses significant challenges for patients, families, and healthcare providers.
• Few dementia-friendly digital applications currently exist to support individuals with dementia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To emphasize the necessity of considering multiple perspectives for high-quality development of supportive healthcare applications.
• To highlight the importance of stakeholder and family input in application development for dementia.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative approach was employed, including three interviews and an expert workshop.
• Interviews and workshop were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
• The methodology by Kuckartz with MAXQDA support was utilized.

Main Results:

• General practitioners and family caregivers are pivotal in dementia care, offering valuable preferences for assistive technologies.
• Successful development of a dementia tablet application necessitates robust scientific and multidisciplinary collaboration.
• Team meetings and discussions were integral during the application's development phases.

Conclusions:

• High-quality supportive healthcare applications require integrating scientific, clinical, and technical viewpoints.
• A spiral development approach with feedback loops is crucial for iterative refinement of applications.
• Involving diverse perspectives ensures the creation of effective and user-centered digital health tools for dementia.