JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The most common reasons for the lack of adherence among older adults is the forgetfulness due to the multiple cognitive processes associated with prospective memory involved in remembering to follow a medication regimen. Problems with prospective memory increase the demands for care. Therefore, family members play an essential role in supporting patients in activities that involve: helping with medication adherence, transmitting knowledge about medications, and helping to refill their prescriptions. To address some of these medication problems, we designed a Medication Ambient Display (MAD) to support education, motivation, and measurement of medication-taking behaviors in older adults. The functionality of MAD consists of providing external cues to convey information through abstract and stylized representations of older adults’ medication adherence. Specifically, MAD is placed as a portrait in the elderly’s home. It shows a virtual birdcage to raise elders’ consciousness about their responsibility for caring for their health, in a similar way that they gladly take care of their pets

Objective:

This study aimed to assess the effect of MAD’s external cues on the involvement of family members in the management of medications for the elderly.

Methods:

We conducted a qualitative study consisting of semi-structured interviews with older adults and their relatives identified as informal caregivers. The study lasted ten (10) weeks. We visited participants weekly to collect data about: older adults’ medication problems, help received, and their perception about older adults’ medication adherence. The first five (5) weeks of the study was used to establish baseline data to understand the involvement of relatives on medication management activities. Afterward, we introduced MAD to be used for the successive five (5) weeks.

Results:

We found that new patterns of interaction among older adults and their relatives arose while using MAD. Participants perceived that MAD reinforced the care functions of family caregivers. For instance, it made them aware of older adults' medication adherence and encouraged youngest family members to help older adults.

Conclusions:

We identified that the external cues provided through ambient displays did not overwhelm family members, but motivated their social connectedness with older adults. We conclude this paper with a set of lessons learned from this qualitative assessment, which may help designers to develop assistive technology for older adults.