University of Twente Student Theses
The role of acceptance and perceived usefulness of unobtrusive monitoring technology for dementia home care
Fischer, J. (2022) The role of acceptance and perceived usefulness of unobtrusive monitoring technology for dementia home care.
|
PDF
760kB |
| Abstract: | Background: The population is ageing, while health-related problems are considered a frequent problem in older age. Dementia is prevalent among elderlies and progresses in stages with continuing cognitive decline. Informal care provided at home by relatives or acquaintances is favourable for the patient’s quality of life and extended independent living. On the other hand, negative consequences for informal caregivers are related to physical and mental health, finances, and social life, while caring for someone with dementia is especially hard due to the nature of the syndrome. eHealth seems to be a valuable tool to support dementia home care. Radio-frequency-based monitoring systems are unobtrusive technologies that might capture emergencies, patterns, and vital signs to relieve informal caregivers. To enable using a human-centred and holistic design approach, the attitudes and opinions of users are important to investigate. The role of acceptance and perceived usefulness of technology was shown to be relevant for successful implementation and adoption, which constitutes the foundation of the current study. Thus, the perception of acceptability and usefulness of the radio-frequency-based monitoring systems among informal caregivers of people with dementia will be central aspects of this research. Methods: A quantitative-based cross-sectional study was conducted with 79 informal caregivers from Germany and the Netherlands, who were primarily contacted via Alzheimer’s associations and informal caregiver networks. Scenarios focused on different monitoring goals that are central in dementia care were constructed to assess different aspects of each presented situation. The scenarios covered the following care situations: acute safety-related situations, safety-related risk predictions, self-care behaviour, nocturnal wellbeing, and monitoring of long-term patterns. Respondents were presented with questions concerning acceptability and perceived usefulness of the monitoring system for each scenario using a 5-point-Likert scale. Next to descriptive statistics, the Friedman test, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and Spearman’s rank-order correlation were employed to investigate differences between scenarios and the association between the two concepts of acceptance and perceived usefulness. Results: The mean (sd) age of the 79 respondents was 53.6 (12.1), with 75% of them being female. The majority care for one of their parents and commonly one other informal caregiver was involved. The mean (sd) age of the care recipients was 81.2 (9.1), with the majority living together with at least one other person. Acceptance was seen to be slightly positive for acute safety-related situations and nocturnal wellbeing, with a median of 3.5. All five scenarios were perceived as moderately useful, with the median ranging from 3.6 to 3.9. Significant differences were found regarding acceptance ratings between multiple scenarios (p <.001), whereas the added value of the acute safety-related situations in relation to perceived usefulness was visible. Lastly, the association between acceptance and perceived usefulness of the technology was found to be moderate to strong. Conclusion: Generally, slightly positive acceptance and perceived usefulness ratings of the monitoring technology for dementia care were observed in this study. Monitoring acute safety-related situations was shown to be especially useful. Further research should concentrate on possibilities to enhance ratings of acceptance and perceived usefulness, thereby increasing the chances of widespread adoption. Moreover, the observed association between acceptance and perceived usefulness should also be taken into account. Enrichments of the findings of this study by using qualitative research will be necessary to arrive at a thorough understanding of the determinants of acceptance of the technology in order to rethink the monitoring system. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology BSc (56604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/91456 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
Show download statistics for this publication
Show download statistics for this publicationRepository Staff Only: item control page