Using a Mobile Application for Health Communication to Facilitate a Sense of Coherence

Experiences of Older Persons with Cognitive Impairment

Datos Bibliográficos

ID15465846
AutoresErik Piculell (0000-0003-3563-8250, Blekinge Institute of Technology, autor de correspondencia), Lisa Skär (0000-0002-5731-2799, Blekinge Institute of Technology), Jeff Berglund (0000-0003-4312-2246, Blekinge Institute of Technology), Peter Anderberg (0000-0001-9870-8477, University of Skövde), Doris Bohman (0000-0002-5687-7894, North-West University)
Año2021
Volumen18
Número21
Páginas11332-11332
Fecha de publicación2021-10-28
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
EditorialMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph182111332
PMID34769845
OpenAlexW3208734055
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas53

The increasing use of technology by older persons and their preferences for living at home and being independent have created an avenue for self-care and care delivery using mobile technologies and health communication. This study aimed to explain how older persons with cognitive impairment experienced technology-based health communication through the use of a mobile application to facilitate a sense of coherence. Individual, semi-structured interviews with 16 participants in the SMART4MD project were conducted. The interviews were transcribed then coded deductively and thematically, creating themes that corresponded to the central components of the sense of coherence model: comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness. The findings produced an overall theme: a challenging technology that can provide support, based on the three identified themes: making sense of mobile technologies, mastering mobile technologies, and the potential added value to use mobile technologies. The participants' experiences were influenced by their previous use and expectations for the application. Personal support, cognitive and physical ability, and different sources for information impacted use. The participants experienced that using the application created an ambiguity to be challenging and have possible benefits. The study suggests that the sense of coherence model may be used as a method to understand the use of technology by older populations

Ambiguity · Cognition · Cognitive impairment · Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy · Health promotion · Information and Communications Technology · Mobile device · Mobile technology · Salutogenesis · World Wide Web · Aging and Gerontology Research · Applied Psychology · Computer Science · Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Technology Use by Older Adults