Designing a mobile diet diary application with and for older adults with AMD:a case ctudy

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the UK’s leading cause of severe visual impairment amongst the elderly. It accounts for 16,000 blind/partial sight registrations per year and is the leading cause of blindness among people aged 55 years and older in western countries (Bressler, 2004). Our research aims to design and develop a self-monitoring, ability-reactive technology (SMART) for users with AMD to support their dietary-based AMD risk mitigation and progression retardation over time. In this paper, we reflect on our experience of adapting and applying a participatory design (PD) approach to support the effective design of our application with and for older adults with AMD. We introduce the outcome of a series of PD sessions with older adults with AMD - that is, a paper prototype of our proposed application which focuses on accessibility for our target users - and discuss implications for the eventual prototype development

Participatory research with older adults with AMD:co-designing a SMART diet diary app

The global population of people aged 60 years and older is growing rapidly. In the UK, there are currently around 10 million people aged 65 and over, and the number is projected to rise by 50% in the next 20 years (RNIB, 2013). While ongoing advances in information technology (IT) are undoubtedly increasing the scope for IT to enhance and support older adults' daily living, the digital divide between older and younger adults - 43% of people below the age of 55 own and use a smartphone, compared to only 3% of people aged 65 and over (AgeUK, 2013) - raises concerns about the suitability of technological solutions for older adults, especially for older adults with impairments. Evidence suggests that sympathetic design of mobile technology does render it useful and acceptable to older adults: the key issue is, however, how best to achieve such sympathetic design when working with impaired older adults. We report here on a case study in order to outline the practicalities and highlight the benefits of participatory research for the design of sympathetic technology for (and importantly with) older adults with impairments.

A longitudinal evaluation of the acceptability and impact of a diet diary app for older adults with age-related macular degeneration

Ongoing advances in technology are increasing the scope for enhancing and supporting older adults’ daily living. The digital divide between older and younger adults raises concerns, however, about the suitability of technological solutions for older adults, especially for those with impairments. Taking older adults with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) as a case study, we used user-centred and participatory design approaches to develop an assistive mobile app for self-monitoring their intake of food [12,13]. In this paper we report on findings of a longitudinal field evaluation of our app that was conducted to investigate how it was received and adopted by older adults with AMD and its impact on their lives. Demonstrating the benefit of applying inclusive design methods for technology for older adults, our findings reveal how the use of the app raises participants’ awareness and facilitates self-monitoring of diet, encourages positive (diet) behaviour change, and encourages learning.

Co-designing a SMART diet diary application with older adults with AMD

The global population of people aged 60 years and older is growing rapidly. In the UK, there are currently around 10 million people aged 65 and over, and the number is projected to rise by 50% in the next 20 years (RNIB, 2013). While ongoing advances in information technology (IT) are undoubtedly increasing the scope for IT to enhance and support older adults’ daily living, the digital divide between older and younger adults – 43% of people below the age of 55 own and use a smartphone, compared to only 3% of people aged 65 and over (AgeUK, 2013) – raises concerns about the suitability of technological solutions for older adults, especially for older adults with impairments. Evidence suggests that sympathetic design of mobile technology does render it useful and acceptable to older adults: the key issue is, however, how best to achieve such sympathetic design when working with impaired older adults. We report here on a case study in order to outline the practicalities and highlight the benefits of participatory research for the design of sympathetic technology for (and importantly with) older adults with impairments.

Samoyedic Diary : Early Years of Visual Anthropology in the Soviet Arctic

Peer reviewed

Age differences in prospective memory for everyday life intentions : A diary approach

Peer reviewed

Age differences in prospective memory for everyday life intentions : A diary approach

Peer reviewed

The Diary of Mary McKeon, an Irish American Domestic Servant in Nineteenth Century America

What did young, single, unaccompanied Irish women experience when immigrating to the United States in the late nineteenth century? In this final project, I will explore primary and secondary sources that address their experiences, focusing on a diary written in 1883 by a young Irish domestic servant working in New Haven, Connecticut. Mary McKeon, a sixteen-year-old girl from County Leitrim, Ireland, recorded her experiences as a domestic servant for two different families, as well as her own personal thoughts. Mary wrote down her personal experiences, providing a glimpse of what her life was like both inside and outside of her employer’s home. Though much of my research will show that many young women like Mary would be subjected to prejudice and discrimination due to their lack of understanding middle-class American values, which would give rise to the “Bridget” stereotype of a brutish, ill-mannered and incompetent domestic servant, not all Irish women experienced that discrimination and prejudice. Mary is one example of a domestic servant that was treated kindly by her employers and her story documents a more positive and supportive environment for this newly arrived young, single immigrant. Her diary also reveals her to be a young woman who worked to improve her language skills and her situation. And, through her diary, we get a glimpse of her strategies for ensuring an active social life, including access to courtship and marriage. By analyzing Mary’s diary and sharing my results in this final project, I hope to provide a more comprehensive view into the lives of these young women.

Diary 48 August 1898-February 1899 (XML)

A journal of commercial voyages and domestic life on the Tigris River from August 1898 to February 1899. jms_048_08_1898_010_xml.xml

Joseph Mathia Svoboda Tigris River Journal; Diary 48 August 1898-February 1899 (HTML)

Joseph Mathia Svoboda's 19th century journal of commercial voyages, travel, and domestic life on the Tigris River from August 1898-February 1899. Diary 48, HTML Version. jms_048_08_1898_030_htm.html

Diary 48 August 1898-February 1899 (TXT)

A journal of commercial voyages and domestic life on the Tigris River from August 1898 to February 1899. jms_048_08_1898_020_trf.txt

Diary 48 August 1898-February 1899 (Summary)

A journal of commercial voyages and domestic life on the Tigris River from August 1898 to February 1899. jms_048_08_1898_040_sum.html