TRAINING PROGRAM FOR ENHANCING THE ADOPTION OF MOBILE HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES BY PERSONS WITH MILD DEMENTIA

"<< Background >>The IAT applied for the mHealth-AD project for a number of reasons. The IAT already has research experience in the field of digital technologies and dementia through previous projects and can build on this previous work and thus classify and consider the needs of people with dementia. In addition, the IAT appreciates European cooperation for research purposes and is constantly striving for European networking and the development and dissemination of joint projects and content.<< Objectives >>The mHEALTH-AD project was launched with the main objective of improving the skills of people with mild dementia in the use of mHealth technologies. Specific objectives were to strengthen the self-management and empowerment of people with mild dementia, as well as to improve their knowledge and skills about mHealth technologies in terms of: measuring their health status, tracking their safety, maintaining their health status, communication and planning. In addition, an overview of affordable mHealth technologies was sought, based on target group-specific acceptance and usage criteria, as well as information on the use of these technologies. In addition, the development of a training methodology based on ""learning by doing"" and ""gamification"" was aimed at training people with mild dementia in a ""friendly"" environment in order to reduce their fears, concerns and reservations about mHealth technologies before they can use them in the real world. A digital serious game and a training course were developed for this purpose.<< Implementation >>The mHealth-AD project is based on the implementation of five work packages. At the beginning, a methodological guideline was developed in which the learning strategies, learning materials and content were defined. This methodological guideline was then reviewed in a co-creation phase and the content for the training activities was adapted. The consortium developed training materials for four modules with different content based on the methodological guidelines. In addition, a serious game was developed in a further work package to present selected module content in a playful way. A training platform was developed to make the training materials accessible to people with dementia and also to trainers. The training materials have been tested in validation studies in all countries with people with dementia.<< Results >>The most important results of this project were the development of a functioning training methodology and the development and validation of tailor-made training materials for training people with dementia to improve their skills with mHealth technologies. In addition, a serious game was developed. All results were made available to interested parties via the project website and the training platform. The validation studies on the training content show a positive evaluation by the participating people with dementia and their relatives."