Designing Mindfulness Conversational Agents for People With Early-Stage Dementia and Their Caregivers: Thematic Analysis of Expert and User Perspectives.
Cassandra E L Seah, Zheyuan Zhang, Sijin Sun, Esther Wiskerke, Sarah Daniels, Talya Porat, Rafael A Calvo
JMIR aging December 6, 2022 DOI: 10.2196/40360 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | 5 dementia experts, 5 mindfulness experts, 5 people with early-stage dementia, and 5 dementia caregivers |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Feedback Design Relationships Dementia Intervention Caregivers User needs Mindset Essential Accessibility Dyadic |
| Key findings | Participants preferred dyadic mindfulness and indicated that conversational agents have potential as an implementation format. Five themes from expert and user feedback should guide design: enhancing accessibility, cultivating positivity, providing simplified tangible and thought-based activities, encouraging a mindful mindset shift, and enhancing relationships. |
Abstract
Background: The number of people with dementia is expected to grow worldwide. Among the ways to support both persons with early-stage dementia and their caregivers (dyads), researchers are studying mindfulness interventions. However, few studies have explored technology-enhanced mindfulness interventions for dyads and the needs of persons with dementia and their caregivers.
Objective: The main aim of this study was to elicit essential needs from people with dementia, their caregivers, dementia experts, and mindfulness experts to identify themes that can be used in the design of mindfulness conversational agents for dyads.
Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 dementia experts, 5 mindfulness experts, 5 people with early-stage dementia, and 5 dementia caregivers. Interviews were transcribed and coded on NVivo (QSR International) before themes were identified through a bottom-up inductive approach.
Results: The results revealed that dyadic mindfulness is preferred and that implementation formats such as conversational agents have potential. A total of 5 common themes were also identified from expert and user feedback, which should be used to design mindfulness conversational agents for persons with dementia and their caregivers. The 5 themes included enhancing accessibility, cultivating positivity, providing simplified tangible and thought-based activities, encouraging a mindful mindset shift, and enhancing relationships.
Conclusions: In essence, this research concluded with 5 themes that mindfulness conversational agents could be designed based on to meet the needs of persons with dementia and their caregivers.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- A Yoga and Compassion Meditation Program Reduces Stress in Familial Caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease Patients Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2013
- Mindfulness Training for People With Dementia and Their Caregivers: Rationale, Current Research, and Future Directions Frontiers in Psychology June 13, 2018
- Randomized Controlled Trial of Inner Resources Meditation for Family Dementia Caregivers. Journal of Clinical Psychology December 2017
- Biomarkers of Resilience in Stress Reduction for Caregivers of Alzheimer's Patients. Neuromolecular medicine June 2016
- Transcendental Meditation for the improvement of health and wellbeing in community-dwelling dementia caregivers [TRANSCENDENT]: a randomised wait-list controlled trial BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine May 8, 2015
and 3 more in the library