| Sumario: | Alzheimer's is a chronic, age-related disease reported to be the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. The staggering imbalance of its affect between ethnic groups prevails within the African American population, as opposed to non-Hispanic whites, in diagnosis and caregiving responsibilities. Nationally, mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) pose as promising interventions for chronic disease management. African Americans are reportedly the largest mHealth app consumer group within the United States. Many theories have promoted the need to produce diverse, culturally concordant solutions in order to provide effective mobile health technology designed for all intended users. Although mHealth apps serve as potential healthcare interventions, little is known regarding their usability and interface design. This study will advance knowledge on the apps' usability and provide user-centered design guidelines for future app development. Keyword searches in Apple and Google App Stores rendered 43 Alzheimer's apps. Card sorting then generated three levels of categories for app classification. Stratified random sampling produced a sample size of six apps selected for evaluation. Lastly, a heuristic evaluation of the apps was conducted according to Nielsen's ten usability heuristics. Results were discussed using descriptive statistics, and user-centered design guidelines were constructed to remedy problematic usability issues according to the violations discovered. Findings thereof will inform future Alzheimer's mobile health application development and promote the available healthcare interventions for all families affected by this disease.
|
|---|