End-user involvement is central in the MedGUIDE project. From the start of the project, our researchers have been talking to seniors, family members, professional caregivers and medical doctors. Their input helps us better understand the real problems, validate design ideas and iteratively improve the prototypes.
The team is now in the process of defining the user requirements. The requirements define what product will be developed. MedGUIDE targets three categories of end users: patients with dementia (PwD) (primary), formal and informal caregivers (secondary) and medical and pharmaceutical professionals (tertiary). These end-user groups were interviewed in group sessions and face-to-face interviews in Cyprus, Norway and the Netherlands. In total 24 primary end-users, 21 secondary end-users and 15 tertiary end-users were involved in the user requirements phase.
The enthusiasm of the interviewed end-users, as well as their recognition of the purpose of this project, strengthened the MedGUIDE team in their ambitions. Moreover, the interviews resulted in a better understanding of the moments and locations which are associated with medication intake (personal activities, meals and the kitchen), and how a digital system could support the medication intake process. Using this knowledge, one of the requirements is that a system should be able to detect changes in living routines relevant to medication intake, and should be able to communicate these changes to the patient and his/her network.
The requirements document will be finalized in October, and will be input for the next phase in the project: the concept development phase.
If you are interested in this project, keep checking this blog for updates or get in touch with Martijn Vastenburg, m.h.vastenburg@connectedcare.nl.