Conference Agenda

The global rise in Alzheimer's and dementia cases is a growing concern due to an aging population and age-related health issues. By 2025, there will be 7.2 million individuals aged 65 and older living with these conditions, an 11% increase. By 2040, the US will require a 235% increase in caregivers to meet the demand. While technology can't replace human care, it can ease the caregiving responsibilities.

To address this, an interdisciplinary team collaborated with caregivers and those living with Alzheimer's to create an affordable social robot. This paper discusses the ethical considerations, functionalities, and accessibility of the robot. The result is "FRED" (Friendly Robot to Ease Dementia), an AI-powered socially assistive robot with a dedicated caregiving app. FRED aims to alleviate the impending caregiving crisis, offering support to caregivers and improving the care quality for those with Alzheimer's and dementia.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) presents a significant challenge in healthcare, re-quiring effective tools for rehabilitation and assessment. This study explores the use of virtual reality (VR) for assessment of physical function in patients with CLBP, and investigates how movements and tasks can be designed for assessment purposes. The focus is on physiotherapists' perceptions of using VR regarding task design, feasibility, and user experience. We conducted three design workshops with physiotherapists and HCI researchers, and designed three VR applications that we evaluated with six physiotherapy students. The study provides valuable insights into participants' perceptions and highlights promising and challenging aspects of using VR in physiotherapy assessment. We found the approach to be useful and have potential. However, additional focus is needed on task design, measures of physical function, and designing for body size diversity. This study lays the groundwork for designing physiotherapeutic assessment of patients with CLBP.

Patient Empowerment (PE) has increasingly gained popularity in shaping the framework of healthcare systems. We present a case study at Natera, where we designed a patient-centric portal aimed at fostering patient engagement throughout the genetic testing journey. Through a patient-centric approach, we present the design process of creating a portal for patients to take control over their genetic tests. This is followed by the user research we conducted utilizing cognitive walkthrough and think-aloud methodologies. This is then followed by analyzing the data gathered through the user research conducted with organ health patients. We then conclude by presenting findings and outlining preliminary design implications. This research aims to shed light into the needs of patients for engaging with digital technology in the context of genetic testing.

The number of people with diabetes is projected to increase over the upcoming years, putting pressure on care systems. Many patients with diabetes are at high risk of developing foot ulcers. These patients often struggle to relate to and monitor the health of their feet in everyday life. While eHealth technologies show promise in supporting self-management of diabetes, their use is still limited in the context of diabetic feet. By following a design process using co-design practices, we developed a suitable eHealth application that supports people in preventing diabetic foot complications. Through a participatory design approach, we uncovered 11 design requirements highlighting the importance of offering digital support when possible but enabling physical care when needed. We argue for a technology-supported culture of care through simplified self-monitoring and direct contact with care professionals. Finally, we discuss implications for designing eHealth solutions by involving all relevant stakeholders.

The mental and emotional burden of living with a chronic disease, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), calls for a better understanding of how we can support people in coping through affectively designed healthcare technologies. This paper presents findings from an ongoing research project concerned with redesigning an existing self-tracking app towards better supporting affective dimensions of living with RA. On the basis of an exploratory, intervention-based design study, we present three overall affective needs feeding into three design opportunities for cultivating affective and emotional dimensions in the redesign of the app; 1) creating a digital room for emotional response, 2) offering a space for mindfulness and 3) helping people to own their RA story. Our results emphasize the need for HCI and design researchers to approach the design of healthcare technology holistically, which includes exploring affective interactions that empower people to develop more sustainable coping strategies.

Loneliness in later life has been associated with frailty and earlier mortality. Sensor-based monitoring systems aim to help identify and prevent more severe forms of social isolation and loneliness at old age. The technological development requires an understanding how to reach acceptance and usefulness of the proposed technology in the wider system by involving those it affects. In this co-design study, we engage people that experienced loneliness after the age of 65 and stakeholders to collaboratively design a loneliness monitoring system that is embedded in wearables and smart home furniture. Such involvement will help inform the technology design at early stages. This paper contributes to literature on loneliness monitoring systems for older people that has lacked people and stakeholder involvement and a human-centered approach to design. We present found requirements for the positioning of sensors, symptoms and objects associated with loneliness, and recommendations for greater detection accuracy.