Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Human Factors
Date Submitted: Jul 16, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: Jul 20, 2018 - Aug 3, 2018
Date Accepted: Oct 30, 2018
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Enabling Older Adults to Exercise at Home with a Tablet: A Usability Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
For older adults physical activity is vital for maintaining their health and their ability to live independently. Home-based programs can help them achieve the recommended exercise frequency. An application for a tablet computer was developed to support older adults in following a personal training. It featured goal setting, tailoring, progress tracking and remote feedback.
Objective:
In line with the Medical Research Council Framework, which prescribes thorough testing before evaluating the efficacy with a randomized controlled trial, the aim of the present study was to assess the usability of a tablet-based application that was designed to support older adults in doing exercises at home.
Methods:
A total of 15 older adults, ranging from 69 to 99 years old, participated in a usability study that utilized a mixed-method approach. Novice users were asked to complete 11 tasks as they verbalized their ongoing thoughts. The task ranged from looking up information about exercises and executing them to tailoring a weekly exercise schedule. The performance errors and time-on-task were calculated as proxies of effective and efficient usage. Overall satisfaction was assessed with a post-test interview. All responses were analyzed independently by two researchers.
Results:
On average the participants spend 46 seconds time-on-task. 94% of the users completed the task with either no help (43%) or after having received one or two hints (51%). During the post-test interview participants made three times more positive remarks about the app, than negative remarks.
Conclusions:
The app that was developed to support older adults in doing exercises at home is useable by the target audience. First-time users were able to perform common tasks in an effective and efficient manner. In general, they were satisfied with the app. Tasks that were associated with behavior execution and evaluation were performed with ease. Complex tasks like tailoring a personal training schedule needed more effort. Learning effects, usefulness and long-term satisfaction will be investigated with longitudinal follow-up studies. Clinical Trial: NL56094.029.16 / NTR (TC = 5888; registered 03-06-2016)
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
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