Designing Software for Elderly Suffering from Cognitive Impairments

M. PINO , M. BOULAY, AS. RIGAUDResearch team EA 4468 Paris Descartes University,

Broca Hospital, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (France)

International Conference ADI, 2012International Conference ADI, 2012

AIM: the design, development and assessment of technological products and services for elderly people with cognitive impairment, and family and professional caregivers.

Technological applications are used in this context:•To support elderly people with their daily-life activities•To provide healthcare and cognitive stimulation•To help caregivers better manage patient difficulties

LUSAGE user-lab

• Support for basic activities: organization, planning, locating objects, medication reminding

• Monitoring and safety• Information and

educational games to support cognitive wellness and social engagement

• Simplified menu to access these services

Social Assistive Robotics

• Embodiment• Emotion• Dialog• Personality• Human-oriented perception• User modeling• Socially situated learning• Intentionality

T. Fong, I. Nourbakhsh, and K. Dautenhahn. A survey of socially interactive robots. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 42(3-4):143–166, 2003.

Social Assistive Robotics

Human Activity Assistive Technology Model (HAAT) (Cook and Husey, 1995)

External enabler (device) used to overcome any contextual obstacle.

Person with his/her skills and impairments

Social framework and physical environment in which the person and the AT operate

Procedure, operation or task that the person would like to achieve

PRIMO: Cognitive Stimulation software

• Maintain cognitive resources • Reinforce automatisms & implement routines• Increase self-esteem, motivation, socialization

• On-line programme• Personalized set of exercises (memory, attention, judgment, executive function, etc)• Different levels of difficulty • Remote neuropsychological supervision

Design & Development Cycle

Final Product

Faucounau, V. et al., (2009). Caregivers’ requirements for in-home robotic agent.

Wu et al., (2010). Robotic agents for supporting community-dwelling elderly people with memory complaints: Perceived needs and preferences

Usability assessment

• Usability testing : - Ensure that systems are adapted to end-users - No potential negative outcomes - Allows ergonomics improvement

Classical procedure : Observing how users interact with prototypes or final products to perform a set of predefined tasks under controlled conditions

Evaluation criteria

• Objective performance measures: - Time to complete the tasks - Number of manipulation errors - Numbers of verbal or physical help requests - Accuracy in the tasks and type of « cognitive error »

• Subjective measures: - Satisfaction questionnaire

METHODS• 7 participants with AD (MMSE = 16-24)• Age mean 82,4 y/o • Education mean 11,5 y• 4 sessions with 15 exercices • None computer experience

RESULTS• Identification of usability problems resulting from the interface design• Difficulties are related to the severity of cognitive impairment• Some assistance may be necessary• The use of a touchscreen is strongly recommended

First Evaluation

Validate

Select all the yellow fruits :

Interface modifications required

Simplifying procedures and interactions :

• One-click answers• Using a touch screen • Avoiding unnecessary messages• Adjusting font and images size• Eliminating check-box • Eliminating “validation” button

Second EvaluationMETHODS• 15 participants (AD = 3, MCI = 8, HC = 4)• Age mean 78,2 y/o• Education mean 11 y• 1 session with 9 exercices • Half of them had already used a computer before

RESULTS• The improved version is more intuitive and learnable • The application is adapted to persons with MCI and early AD• Still, some assistance may be necessary• Touchscreen works better than mouse or touchpad

QuoVADis – 30 juin 2011 -

Discussion • The possibility of using the Interface depends on

cognitive abilities preserved at MCI and early AD

• Importance of attitude : confidence and motivation

• Technology use: encouraging to find “their way” to use the system

• Involving caregivers

• Challenge: how to compensate attentional and executive deficits that affect the capacity of initiating and completing a sequency?

Thank you!