Nemnem: Dementia Risk Assessment Mobile Health Application for Older Adults

Abstract

With the expanding population of older adults, the risk for certain illnesses like dementia also increases. The use of mobile health (mHealth) offers an option to deliver information regarding dementia and assess risks among older adults with ease. The study aims to develop an mHealth application to be used to help healthcare workers assess risk levels of Dementia among the elderly members of the family. Also, the study aimed to explore and identify factors affecting dementia risk assessment to support the development of a dementia risk assessment mHealth App for older adults in La Trinidad, Benguet. Data was collected, analyzed, and treated using a multi-method approach specifically User-Centered Design (UCD)-Cooperative design guided by the Modified Information Systems Research framework. This study was conducted at La Trinidad, Benguet, with a total number of 20 participants from various groups of end-users, specifically Public Health Nurses employed by the LGU and hired thru the Nurse Deployment Program of the DOH, Barangay Health Workers, and lastly, the primary caregivers of families with older adults. Results showed that end-users are not familiar with dementia nor have encountered any tools for dementia risk assessment. The barriers identified was most end-users prefer pen and paper over applications possibly due to generation gaps. Moreover, sources of information could be gathered at certain search engines and paper print affected the user’s adaptability to use mHealth apps. Regarding the application, end-users wanted it to be user friendly, simple yet consistent, easy to use, and information regarding dementia should be credible. In conclusion, comments and suggestions made by the end users were used to improve the overall application. Overall, the respondents who have used the app were highly satisfied with the developed mobile health application.