Facilitating sustainable use of interactive serious gaming technology in elderly care homes, focusing on the Tovertafel: a mixed-method study among care home employees.
Summary
In general, all implemented (information) technology uses sustainable use (i.e. successful long-term usage to reach its main goal and this can be stimulated by digital and non-digital interventions. This study focuses on sustainable use (i.e. frequent usage over a longer period of time) of the Tovertafel for people living with dementia, which is an interactive serious gaming projector meant to improve the user’s Quality of Life. The research question is as follows: How have care homes in the Netherlands and Belgium that master sustainable use of the Tovertafel dealt with barriers to sustainable use and implemented its facilitators successfully, and what can be learned from these care homes to support sustainable use in other care homes? To be able to answer this question, the project consisted of three phases. During the first phase, a literature study was done on the Tovertafel, dementia, sustainable use and the factors influencing usage (i.e. facilitators and barriers of sustainable use). Simultaneously a prestudy containing quantitative analysis of Tovertafel usage data and qualitative interviews with Tover employees was conducted. This resulted in a clear definition of the scope of this study and an overview of the needed theoretical background. The second phase consisted of a quantitative survey among Tovertafel users to elucidate the definition of sustainable use and select the interview participants for the third phase in a grounded way. From this study we can conclude that sustainable use of the Tovertafel is defined as usage of at least three times per week (i.e. above-median), six months after installation (i.e. when the novelty effect was expected to be worn off). Frequent users turned out to be more satisfied with their usage frequency (58%) than infrequent users (20%) and therefore one could say that a minimum usage frequency of three times per week should be promoted among new and current users to facilitate sustainable use. The third phase of this study contained in-depth follow-up interviews among care homes mastering sustainable use. During the interviews, care home employees mastering sustainable use elaborated on their perception of the facilitators for sustainable use and potential support measures that could help them and others to keep using the Tovertafel frequently. Based on the findings, a framework for facilitators of sustainable use has been developed, including an extended version showing the related concepts. Having a usage-coordinator, and employees being sufficiently willing and having sufficient knowledge were the most often implemented facilitators. Together with having an engaging technology, these facilitators were perceived as most important by the participants. The biggest hurdles were unmotivated colleagues, an insufficient variety of user experiences, and the complexity of rotating the Tovertafel. By maximizing the facilitators and minimizing the barriers, sustainable use will be facilitated and therefore one will benefit from its advantages longer.