Output details

Evaluation of the User Experience of a Standard Telecare Product – the Personal Trigger

How often do service users wear their telecare alarm button? What are the main reasons for wearing or not wearing the alarm button? What would service users change about the alarm button and why? A postal survey was distributed to 1,324 people using the community alarm service provided by Moray Community Health and Social Care Partnership (MCHSCP) on their usage and perceptions of the alarm button. The format of the survey was multiple-choice questions and space for free text comments. We had a good response rate of 60%. The community alarm service is the most established form of telecare across Europe. However, many people forget or choose not to wear their alarm button, putting themselves at risk in an emergency. A contributing factor is that suppliers do not typically involve designers or end-users in product development. The survey results informed further work, which involved designers collaborating with end-users of the community alarm service to create new concept designs for the alarm button, together with telecare suppliers. Reference: Taylor, A., Bernard, L., Pizey, H., and Whittet, C. TeleWEAR: engaging users and suppliers of telecare in product design. Ext. Abstracts CHI 2012, ACM Press (2012), 2637-2642. The project findings indicated that end-users of telecare want to and can make a valuable contribution. As a result, MCHSCP set up an Involvement Group for people living in Moray to contribute to the telecare strategy for the region and a leading UK supplier (Tynetec) invited the Involvement Group to take part in their research and development forums for the first time. The project was a finalist in the Scottish Social Services Council Care Accolades 2011. A leading UK supplier (Chubb) has expressed interest in developing several of the concept designs, which we are reaching an agreement on.