Background

eHealth interventions have been explored to provide convenient support and training to informal dementia carers. Design and usability issues may however hinder user acceptance of Web-based interventions. iSupport is an online program developed by World Health Organization (WHO) to support informal dementia carers.

Purpose

This study gathers user-feedback and evaluates the usability of the European-Portuguese version of iSupport.

Methods

A mixed-methods study was conducted. Two focus groups discussions (n = 15) and 15 usability test sessions were conducted with carers and health/social support professionals to collect data on user satisfaction and requirements on the program's contents and Web interface. The usability testing protocol comprised pre/post-test surveys, a structured interview and observation of task performance in the Web platform. Content analysis of text data was performed by two independent coders.

Results

Success rates were superior to 80% for most tasks. An average score of 89.5 on the System Usability Scale demonstrated an excellent perception of the program's usability. The program was perceived as trustworthy, and participants were globally satisfied with its aesthetics and easiness of use. Feedback and personalization were valued functional requirements, while no consensus was found for mood self-assessment or professional/peer interaction features. Lessons were considered culturally fit, thematically pertinent, and comprehensive. Suggestions for improvement were wide-ranging from program's layout to accessibility, usability, functional requirements, content format and lessons' themes.

Conclusions

This study derives user requirements for an evidence-based program for dementia carers. Both the study findings and usability assessment methodology can be imported to the development of similar programs worldwide.

中文翻译：

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针对痴呆症护理人员的在线培训和支持计划的用户反馈和可用性测试

背景

已经探索了电子健康干预措施，以便为非正式的痴呆症护理人员提供便利的支持和培训。然而，设计和可用性问题可能会阻碍用户接受基于 Web 的干预措施。iSupport 是世界卫生组织 (WHO) 开发的一项在线计划，旨在支持非正式的痴呆症护理人员。

目的

这项研究收集了用户反馈并评估了欧洲-葡萄牙语版本的 iSupport 的可用性。

方法

进行了混合方法研究。与护理人员和健康/社会支持专业人员进行了两个焦点小组讨论（n = 15）和 15 个可用性测试会议，以收集有关用户满意度和对程序内容和 Web 界面的要求的数据。可用性测试协议包括测试前/测试后调查、结构化访谈和对 Web 平台中任务性能的观察。文本数据的内容分析由两名独立的编码员进行。

结果

大多数任务的成功率都高于 80%。系统可用性量表的平均得分为 89.5，表明该程序的可用性非常好。该程序被认为是值得信赖的，全球参与者对其美观和易用性感到满意。反馈和个性化是重要的功能要求，而对于情绪自我评估或专业/同行互动功能没有达成共识。课程被认为具有文化契合性、主题相关性和全面性。改进建议范围广泛，从程序布局到可访问性、可用性、功能要求、内容格式和课程主题。

结论

本研究得出用户对痴呆症护理人员循证计划的要求。研究结果和可用性评估方法都可以导入到全球类似项目的开发中。