Designing mindfulness conversational agents for people with early-stage dementia and their caregivers: thematic analysis of expert and user perspectives
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The number of people with dementia is expected to grow worldwide. Among the ways to support both persons with early-stage dementia and their caregivers (dyads), researchers are studying mindfulness interventions. However, few studies have explored technology-enhanced mindfulness interventions for dyads and the needs of persons with dementia and their caregivers. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of this study was to elicit essential needs from people with dementia, their caregivers, dementia experts, and mindfulness experts to identify themes that can be used in the design of mindfulness conversational agents for dyads. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 dementia experts, 5 mindfulness experts, 5 people with early-stage dementia, and 5 dementia caregivers. Interviews were transcribed and coded on NVivo (QSR International) before themes were identified through a bottom-up inductive approach. RESULTS: The results revealed that dyadic mindfulness is preferred and that implementation formats such as conversational agents have potential. A total of 5 common themes were also identified from expert and user feedback, which should be used to design mindfulness conversational agents for persons with dementia and their caregivers. The 5 themes included enhancing accessibility, cultivating positivity, providing simplified tangible and thought-based activities, encouraging a mindful mindset shift, and enhancing relationships. CONCLUSIONS: In essence, this research concluded with 5 themes that mindfulness conversational agents could be designed based on to meet the needs of persons with dementia and their caregivers.
Date Issued
2022-12-06
Date Acceptance
2022-10-20
Citation
JMIR Aging, 2022, 5 (4), pp.e40360-e40360
ISSN
2561-7605
Publisher
JMIR Publications
Start Page
e40360
End Page
e40360
Journal / Book Title
JMIR Aging
Volume
5
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
©Cassandra E L Seah, Zheyuan Zhang, Sijin Sun, Esther Wiskerke, Sarah Daniels, Talya Porat, Rafael A Calvo. Originally published in JMIR Aging (https://aging.jmir.org), 06.12.2022. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Aging, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://aging.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36472897
PII: v5i4e40360
Subjects
accessibility
caregivers
dementia
design
dyadic
essential
feedback
intervention
mindfulness
mindset
relationships
user
user needs
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Canada
Date Publish Online
2022-12-06