JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Reminiscence therapy through music is a psychosocial intervention with benefits for elderly patients with neurocognitive disorders. Therapies using virtual or augmented reality are efficient to ecologically assess, and eventually train, episodic memory in the elderly population. We designed a semi-immersive musical game called “A life in songs”. The game aspires to become a playful, easy-to-use and complete tool for the assessment, rehabilitation and prevention of neurocognitive decline associated with aging.

Objective:

This study aimed at assessing the user experience (UX) associated with this newly-designed game.

Methods:

Sixty inpatients of geriatric wards were included. After one or several sessions of the game guided by the therapist, the patients were asked to answer questions selected from 2 widely known UX scales (AttrakDiff and meCUE). The level of engagement of the patient throughout the experimental session was also assessed following an internally developed scale which included 5 levels (interactive, constructive, active, passive, and disengaged behaviors). UX mean scores were computed.

Results:

The results revealed very positive UX with mean values beyond the neutral values for every UX dimensions of both scales. The overall judgement was rated 3.92 (0.87) (on a scale of -5 to 5). Participants were mostly active (38%) and constructive (35%).

Conclusions:

These findings demonstrated the very good appreciation of the game by geriatric inpatients. Participants’ and healthcare professionals’ verbal comments were strongly aligned with the quantitative results. Further studies are needed to evaluate the potential benefits on clinical factors such as neurocognitive functions, mood, depression, or quality of life.