Comparing recent reviews about touch screen for Dementia with lessons learnt from the field

Conclusions were synthesised from recent reviews on (touchscreen)technologies and people with dementia and lessons learnt, using these devices in projects in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada. The combined findings provide a strong basis for defining new strategies for exploiting touchscreen technology for people with dementia

Comparing recent reviews about touchscreens for dementia with lessons from the field

Conclusions were synthesised from recent reviews on (touchscreen)technologies and people with dementia and lessons learnt using these devices in projects in the UK, the Netherlands and Canada. The combined findings provide a strong basis for defining new strategies for exploiting touchscreen technology for people with dementia

People with dementia playing casual games on a tablet

Objective: Preserving clients’ quality of life (QoL) has become increasingly important in dementia care. Engagement in pleasant and meaningful activities may influence this QoL. We studied people with dementia’s experiences and views of independent tablet games in a practice-based study, conducted at two day-care centres and five small-scale living facilities for people with dementia in the city of Rotterdam. Method: The participants were 54 clients (24 men, 30 women; mean age 83 years) who participated in a total of 177 game-playing sessions. Ten existing iPad games and three new game prototypes were evaluated. Written informed consent was obtained from the clients or the clients’ representatives prior to the study. Data collection included epidemiological and game playing characteristics. Observers took note of the specific game(s) offered, the clients’ mood and engagement, and the duration of game playing. Immediately after each participant finished playing,a short 4-question interview was conducted to discover their opinion on the game. The participants’ answers were recorded verbatim. Qualitative content analysis was used to explore their experiences and views of the games. Results: This study revealed positive experiences related to people’s need for achievement, self-esteem, sense of connection and belonging, identity, having something to do, and admiration for the game. Negative experiences included failure (low self-esteem), annoyance and a sense of insecurity. Conclusions: This study shows there is potential for people with dementia to play casual games on a tablet as a pleasant and meaningful activity. It is important, however that there is a match between the game, the touchscreen skills of the person with dementia, and their ambitions or interests. It is challenging to find the right game for the right person. An interactive tool to support the choice of the game that is most suitable and a database of dementia-friendly tablet games may support the use of these games by people with dementia, in health care organisations as well as at home

Read and accepted? Scoping the cognitive accessibility of privacy policies of health apps and websites in three European countries

Objective Trust and accessibility are vital to adoption of health and wellness apps. This research scoped three elements of cognitive accessibility of health app privacy policies: availability, ease of navigation, and readability. Methods For this cross-sectional study, quantitative data collected in the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom included: whether privacy information was in a country's official language (availability); number of distracting visual elements (ease of navigation); word count and Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) reading level (readability). Health app privacy policies were compared to policies from a purposively selected sample of websites, and to benchmarks, including CEFR reading level B1. Results Health app privacy policies were less often available in countries’ official languages compared to sampled websites (Chi-Square [1, 180]  =  57.470, p < 0.001) but contained fewer distracting visual elements. More UK privacy policies were in the country's official language, whereas Swedish privacy policies contained fewest words and fewest potentially distracting design elements. Only one privacy policy met the CEFR reading level benchmark. Conclusions Lack of privacy information in non-Anglophone app-users’ native languages and high reading levels may be major barriers to cognitive accessibility. Web and app developers should consider recommendations arising from this study, to stimulate trust in and adoption of health and wellness apps

Evaluation of Huawei Smart Wearables for Detection of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Following Ischaemic Stroke: The Liverpool-Huawei Stroke Study.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) often remains undetected following stroke. Documenting AF is critical to initiate oral anticoagulation, which has proven benefit in reducing recurrent stroke and mortality in patients with AF. The accuracy and acceptability of using smart wearables technology to detect AF in patients following stroke is unknown. The aims of the Liverpool-Huawei Stroke Study are to determine the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and patient and staff acceptability of using Huawei smart wearables to detect AF following ischaemic stroke. The study plans to recruit 1000 adults aged ≥18 years following ischaemic stroke from participating hospitals over 12 months. All participants will be asked to wear a Huawei smart band for four weeks post-discharge. If participants do not have access to a compatible smartphone required for the study, they will be provided with a smartphone for the four-week AF monitoring period. Participants with suspected AF detected by the smart wearables, without previous known AF, will be referred for further evaluation. To determine the effectiveness of the Huawei smart wearables to detect AF, the positive predictive value will be determined. Patient acceptability of using this technology will also be examined. Additional follow-up assessments will be conducted at six and 12 months, and clinical outcomes recorded in relation to prevalent and incident AF post-stroke. The study opened for recruitment on 30/05/2022, and is currently open at four participating hospitals; the first 106 participants have been recruited. One further hospital is preparing to open for recruitment. This prospective study will examine the effectiveness and acceptability of the use of smart wearables in patients following ischaemic stroke. This could have important implications for detection of AF and therefore, earlier prophylaxis for recurrent stroke. The study is registered on https://www.isrctn.com/ (Identifier ISRCTN30693819)

Evaluation of Huawei Smart Wearables for Detection of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Following Ischaemic Stroke:The Liverpool-Huawei Stroke Study

Atrial fibrillation (AF) often remains undetected following stroke. Documenting AF is critical to initiate oral anticoagulation, which has proven benefit in reducing recurrent stroke and mortality in patients with AF. The accuracy and acceptability of using smart wearables technology to detect AF in patients following stroke is unknown. The aims of the Liverpool-Huawei Stroke Study are to determine the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and patient and staff acceptability of using Huawei smart wearables to detect AF following ischaemic stroke. The study plans to recruit 1000 adults aged ≥18 years following ischaemic stroke from participating hospitals over 12 months. All participants will be asked to wear a Huawei smart band for four weeks post-discharge. If participants do not have access to a compatible smartphone required for the study, they will be provided with a smartphone for the four-week AF monitoring period. Participants with suspected AF detected by the smart wearables, without previous known AF, will be referred for further evaluation. To determine the effectiveness of the Huawei smart wearables to detect AF, the positive predictive value will be determined. Patient acceptability of using this technology will also be examined. Additional follow-up assessments will be conducted at six and 12 months, and clinical outcomes recorded in relation to prevalent and incident AF post-stroke. The study opened for recruitment on 30/05/2022, and is currently open at four participating hospitals; the first 106 participants have been recruited. One further hospital is preparing to open for recruitment. This prospective study will examine the effectiveness and acceptability of the use of smart wearables in patients following ischaemic stroke. This could have important implications for detection of AF and therefore, earlier prophylaxis for recurrent stroke. The study is registered on https://www.isrctn.com/ (Identifier ISRCTN30693819)