Participatory processes as a strategy to create a training test for attentional processes in older adults

Abstract

Purpose This work describes the creation-research experience supported by participatory theories and co-design in which it was possible to define and organize the contents of an interactive test designed to train the cognitive care process in older adults, taking the cognitive processes of interaction with technological devices as a conceptual basis for the creative process. Between the interaction and design theories, it is considered that during the interactive action, the preconceptions of who does the action determine the way in which it is related independently of the format that the content is exposed. Method According to Iglesias, perception is analogous because any element of perception requires internal translation processes and analogy in turn is an important requirement for mental models because they are representations of some reality or a series of realities that define prior knowled@. This approach led the design towards the representation of the basic process of interaction as a concept of design, mainly seeking to recover and use internal representations from the stored knowledge of the people or mental model, and to achieve a predictive potential in the processes. Once the process of creating the set of initial criteria was approached by the co-design mode, which seeks to involve many relevant people in the definition of the constituent elements of a designed proposal. From the conceptual foundation we proceeded to validate the content of the test and the coherence of the relationships, with a team made up of an expert in cognition, two therapists specialize in cognitive work with older adults and four designers. Participants reviewed the different mental models from which the final content scheme was defined. In agreement with Schon3, who advises to approach complex design situations by constructing a realistic prototype to evaluate if the theory in use was as coherent as the theory exposed, a first prototype was developed from the contents and tested through three feedback tests. Validation of the model was performed with an exploratory observational study in a group of 17 adults over 65 years. Results & Discussion According to De Couvreur, Dejonghe, Detand and Goossens', each prototype adaptation can be seen as an instigator of the change, and create a common and shared language between the limitations and possibilities of each participant, where the changes occur as a common language that can cause various positive and negative emotions that contribute to building a better design. Once the revisions and adjustments were systematized, we proceeded to define the final configuration of the design of the schedules and diagrams of the parties that made the final proposal that was structured from the cognitive and communicative categories and that specifically train the processes of selective and sustained attention.