Using cultural probes to inform the design of assistive technologies

This paper discusses the practical implications of applying cultural probes to drive the design of assistive technologies. Specifically we describe a study in which a probe was deployed with home-based carers of people with dementia in order to capture critical data and gain insights of integrating the technologies into this sensitive and socially complex design space. To represent and utilise the insights gained from the cultural probes, we created narratives based on the probe data to enhance the design of assistive technologies.This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/K00266X/1) and RCUK through the Horizon Digital Economy Research grant (EP/G065802/1)

COPe-support - a multi-component digital intervention for family carers for people affected by psychosis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Psychosis often causes significant distress and impacts not only in the individuals, but also those close to them. Many relatives and friends ('carers') provide long-term support and need resources to assist them. We have co-produced a digital mental health intervention called COPe-support (Carers fOr People with Psychosis e-support) to provide carers with flexible access to high quality psychoeducation and interactive support from experts and peers. This study evaluates the effectiveness of COPe-support to promote mental wellbeing and caregiving experiences in carers. METHODS: This study is a single-blind, parallel arm, individually randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing COPe-support, with attention control. Both groups continue to receive usual care. COPe-support provides interactive web-based psychoeducation on psychosis-related issues, wellbeing-promotion and network support through forums. The attention-control is a non-interactive online information resource pack. Carers living in England are eligible if they provide at least weekly support to a family member or close friend affected by psychosis, and use internet communication (including emails) daily. All trial procedures are run online, including collection of outcome measurements which participants will directly input into our secure platform. Following baseline assessment, a web-based randomization system will be used to allocate 360 carers to either arm. Participants have unlimited access to the allocated condition for 40 weeks. Data collection is at three time points (10, 20, and 40 weeks after randomization). Analyses will be conducted by trial statisticians blinded to allocation. The primary outcome is mental wellbeing measured by Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), at 20 weeks. As well as an intention-to-treat analysis, a complier average causal effect (CACE) analysis will be conducted to estimate the intervention effect in participants who have accessed COPe-support content twice or more. The secondary objectives and analysis will examine other health and caregiving-related outcomes and explore mechanisms. In a process evaluation, we will interview 20% of the intervention arm participants regarding the acceptability of COPe-support. We will explore in detail participants' usage patterns. DISCUSSION: The results of this trial will provide valuable information about the effectiveness of COPe-support in promoting wellbeing and caregiving experiences in carers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The RCT is registered with the Current Controlled Trials registration (ISRCTN 89563420, registration date: 02/03/2018)

In Their Own Words: Using Siblings’ Meanings about Daily Family Interaction to Understand the Influence of a Child with a Developmental Disability on the Sibling Experience

This study examined daily experiences of stress and coping among adolescent siblings of children with developmental disabilities. Early studies of this population have assumed that living with a disabled sibling is inherently stressful due to changes in the availability and allocation of familial resources. While recent work suggests that only a minority of nondisabled youth experience considerable stress related to family interactions involving a disabled sibling, few studies offer an understanding of how nondisabled siblings make meaning of their experiences and their attempts to cope with them. As such, we have a poor understanding of why some nondisabled siblings struggle while others do not. To address this gap in the literature, I drew on models of stress and coping to conduct a qualitative exploration of the cognitive appraisals used by nondisabled siblings during stressful family interactions. I conducted in-depth individual interviews with 11 nondisabled siblings (aged 10 to 17 years old) to elicit their descriptions of daily family interactions. The interviews were composed of audio-recorded dinner conversations and emotion maps as well as open-ended questions to elicit candid and detailed accounts of family life. Analyses of participants’ appraisal processes addressed the following questions: which aspects of daily family interactions they experienced as stressful and why they were appraised as stressful, how the participants attempted to manage these stressful interactions and why they chose particular coping behaviors and resources, and how their coordination of these appraisals were associated with their subsequent distress. The findings present three important clinical and research implications, including the importance of considering nondisabled siblings’ appraisals of stressful family interactions in clinical practice and research, the need to expand nondisabled siblings’ coping behaviors and resources for managing daily family-related stress, and the role of parents in nondisabled siblings’ experiences of stress

ILR Faculty Publications 2005-06

The production of scholarly research continues to be one of the primary missions of the ILR School. During a typical academic year, ILR faculty members published or had accepted for publication over 25 books, edited volumes, and monographs, 170 articles and chapters in edited volumes, numerous book reviews. In addition, a large number of manuscripts were submitted for publication, presented at professional association meetings, or circulated in working paper form. Our faculty's research continues to find its way into the very best industrial relations, social science and statistics journals.Faculty_Publications_2005_06.pdf: 38 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

ILR Faculty Publications 2006-07

The production of scholarly research continues to be one of the primary missions of the ILR School. During a typical academic year, ILR faculty members published or had accepted for publication over 25 books, edited volumes, and monographs, 170 articles and chapters in edited volumes, numerous book reviews. In addition, a large number of manuscripts were submitted for publication, presented at professional association meetings, or circulated in working paper form. Our faculty's research continues to find its way into the very best industrial relations, social science and statistics journals.Faculty_Publications_2006_07.pdf: 46 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020