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. 2023 Feb 17:10:1129914.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1129914. eCollection 2023.

HomeCoRe system for telerehabilitation in individuals at risk of dementia: A usability and user experience study

Sara Bernini  1 , Silvia Panzarasa  2 , Silvana Quaglini  2 , Alfredo Costa  3   1 , Marta Picascia  1 , Stefano F Cappa  4   1 , Chiara Cerami  4   1 , Cristina Tassorelli  3   5 , Tomaso Vecchi  3   1 , Sara Bottiroli  6   5
Affiliations

HomeCoRe system for telerehabilitation in individuals at risk of dementia: A usability and user experience study

Sara Bernini et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Background: Telerehabilitation has enabled a broader application of cognitive rehabilitation programs. We have recently developed HomeCoRe, a system for supporting cognitive intervention remotely with the assistance of a family member. The main goal of the present study was to determine usability and user experience of HomeCoRe in individuals at risk of dementia and in their family members. The association between subjects' technological skills and main outcome measures was evaluated as well.

Methods: Fourteen individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) or mild neurocognitive disorder (mNCD) were recruited to participate in this pilot study. All participants received a touch-screen laptop implemented with the HomeCoRe software. The intervention consisted of 18 sessions and included a patient-tailored adaptive protocol of cognitive exercises. Usability was assessed in terms of treatment adherence and participants' performance across sessions; user experience via self-reported questionnaires and a descriptive diary.

Results: Usability and user experience were overall satisfactory and suggested usability, pleasantness, and high motivation while using HomeCoRe. Technological skills correlated only with the perceived ability to start and/or perform exercises autonomously.

Discussion: These results, although preliminary, suggest that the usability and user experience of HomeCoRe are satisfactory and independent of technological skills. These findings encourage wider and more systematic use of HomeCoRe to overcome the current limitations of in-person cognitive rehabilitation programs and to reach more individuals at risk of dementia.

Keywords: cognitive rehabilitation; neurocognitive disorder; telerehabilitation; usability; user experience.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Therapist interface for monitoring performances in terms of weighted score (left) and interface of the participant for the execution of exercises (right). % Exercise done = the amount of exercises carried out until that moment; % Instance done = the number of times that a specific exercise has been performed as planned until that moment; the arrow with “send feedbacks” suggests that the difficulty level for the to-be-performed exercises (right) derives from the trend of treatment performance seen by the therapist (left).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Home page of the therapist side of the interface for setting the requirements for the exercises plan (left) and home page of the participant side of the interface for HomeCoRe (right) in the offline and online modality.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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