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Currently accepted at: JMIR Formative Research

Date Submitted: May 24, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: May 26, 2024 - Jul 21, 2024
Date Accepted: Oct 18, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)

This paper has been accepted and is currently in production.

It will appear shortly on 10.2196/60650

The final accepted version (not copyedited yet) is in this tab.

Testing Three Modalities - Voice Assistant, Chat Bot and Mobile App - to Assist Older African American/Black adults in Seeking Information on Alzheimer and related Dementias: Wizard of Oz Usability study.

  • Cristina Bosco; 
  • Fereshtehossadat Shojaei; 
  • Alec Andrew Theisz; 
  • John Anthony Osorio Torres; 
  • Bianca Cureton; 
  • Anna K. Himes; 
  • Nenette M. Jessup; 
  • Priscilla Anne Barnes; 
  • Yvonne Lu; 
  • Hugh C Hendrie; 
  • Carl V. Hill; 
  • Patrick C. Shih

ABSTRACT

Background:

Older African American/Black adults are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and have the lowest level of ADRD health literacy compared to any other ethnic group in the U.S. Low health literacy concerning ADRD negatively impacts African American/Black people in accessing adequate healthcare.

Objective:

The present study explores how three technological modalities—voice assistants, chat-bots, and mobile apps—can assist older African American/Black adults in accessing ADRD information to improve ADRD health literacy. More specifically, the focus is on understanding the unique needs of this population concerning the use of digital tools when accessing ADRD-related information.

Methods:

Using the Wizard of Oz usability testing method, we assessed the three modalities with a sample of 15 older African American adults. The 15 participants were asked to interact with the three modalities to achieve different tasks and search for ADRD related health information.

Results:

Our findings revealed that the content presented by the technology should be made fully accessible to this population and should be paired with credible sources. Additionally, the content should be tailored for African American Black communities. The interaction with the tool should be time efficient, and it should foster a sense of control and representation.

Conclusions:

We conclude that when designing ADRD related interventions for African American / Black older adults, it is imperative to shape the content as well as the interaction to be tailored for African American / Black communities' needs and demands.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Bosco C, Shojaei F, Theisz AA, Osorio Torres JA, Cureton B, Himes AK, Jessup NM, Barnes PA, Lu Y, Hendrie HC, Hill CV, Shih PC

Testing Three Modalities - Voice Assistant, Chat Bot and Mobile App - to Assist Older African American/Black adults in Seeking Information on Alzheimer and related Dementias: Wizard of Oz Usability study.

JMIR Formative Research. 18/10/2024:60650 (forthcoming/in press)

DOI: 10.2196/60650

URL: https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/60650

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