Evaluation of a Mobile Home Care Platform - Lessons Learned and Practical Guidelines

As the population of the industrialized world is aging, the field that deals with seniors’ adoption of technology has gained ground in the scientific community. Recent advances in technology have allowed the development of sophisticated telecare systems that support the independent living of seniors, with communication, remote health monitoring and emergency response services. However, usability issues often prevent elderly people from enjoying the benefits of modern technology, despite the amount of research to understand their needs in system design. In this work, we have performed a usability assessment of the “BioAssist” system, which is an integrated home care platform that incorporates both communication and health monitoring features. A comparative evaluation with the “iTriage” application, followed by a series of interviews and qualitative analysis have provided us with valuable insights and guidelines for designing home care systems for seniors.

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