Usability study of a smartphone app entitled: Living with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Mobile healthcare apps have transformed the healthcare industry and these apps can now be used for educational and preventive purposes, as well as providing valuable information for self-care. Apps related to Parkinson's disease can help from diagnoses to treatment, however the purpose of the app in this study is to inform and to educate. Objective: To describe user appraisal of the refinement of a Parkinson's Disease app through a technical evaluation by researchers in the technological area of Human-computer Interaction HCI and usability from the perspective of the end user. Methods: Technological development research of heuristic evaluation and user experience study carried out for usability testing, where the profile of users were surveyed and usability was evaluated by HCI researchers and end users. Results: Parkinsonians with a recent diagnosis showed the greatest interest in the app. The final version of the app was ready after modifications proposed by experts and users. The app achieved an excellent usability rating, when rated on the Brooke scale in regard to user evaluation. Conclusion: Structured strategies to promote greater adherence contribute to increased usability, and may allow for greater autonomy in care and early identification of symptoms.

A concept-environment for computer-based augmentative and alternative communication founded on a systematic review

AbstractIntroductionLocked-In Syndrome is admittedly the worst case of motor and speech impairment, it seriously damages the ability of oral and gestural communication of patients. In recent years, alternative and augmentative communication technology has provided resources to restore these patients' ability to communicate.MethodsIn order to relate and classify the main methods with that purpose, this work conducted a systematic review on several journal databases.ResultsWe found 203 related papers and 55 of them were selected to compose the study. After that, we classified them into three major groups and we identified the main difficulties when using each approach.ConclusionIn order to overcome these difficulties, we propose a new system concept to develop an adaptive, robust and low cost communication environment. The proposed system is composed of five modules: data entry, communication, aid to the caregiver and external interaction.