https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9668-7289
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Abstract
Introduction
Following a traumatic brain injury (TBI), meal preparation may become challenging as it involves multiple cognitive abilities and sub-tasks. To support this population, the Cognitive Orthosis for coOKing (COOK) was developed in partnership with an alternative residential resource for people with severe TBI. However, little is known about the usability of this technology to support people with TBI living in their own homes.
Methods
A usability study was conducted using a mixed-methods single-case design with a 35-year-old man with severe TBI living alone at home. The number of assistances provided, time taken and the percentage of unnecessary actions during a meal preparation task were documented nine times to explore the usability of COOK. Interviews were also conducted with the participant to document his satisfaction with COOK. Potential benefits were explored via the number of meals prepared per week.
Results
The usability of COOK was shown to be promising as the technology helped the participant prepare complex meals, while also reducing the number of assistances needed and the percentage of unnecessary actions. However, several technical issues and contextual factors influenced the efficiency and the participant’s satisfaction with COOK. Despite improving his self-confidence, COOK did not help the participant prepare more meals over time.
Conclusion
This study showed that COOK was easy to use and promising, despite technical and configuration issues. Results suggest the importance of further technological developments to improve COOK’s usability and fit with the needs of people with TBI living in their own homes.
IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION
Cognitive Orthosis for coOKing (COOK) is a promising technology to support people with TBI when preparing meals within their homes, though usability issues need to be corrected.
Factors such as current meal-preparation related habits, expectations and availability of technical support were found to influence the usability of COOK.
Various questions to consider in future studies involving an assistive technology for cognition to support meal preparation were identified.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Mireille Gagnon-Roy
Mireille Gagnon-Roy is a doctoral candidate at Université de Montréal in Rehabilitation Sciences. Her project focuses on the adaptation of an assistive technology for cognition to compensate for cognitive impairments in T BI individuals during meal preparation.
Nathalie Bier
Nathalie Bier is a full professor of occupational therapy at the Université de Montréal. She is also a researcher at the Research center of the Institut Universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal. The main goal of Nathalie Bier's research program is to better understand the impact of cognitive deficits in aging and dementia on everyday function, as well as to develop nonpharmacological approaches to promote aging in places - such as the use of cognitive rehabilitation and new technology, including smart environments and connected objects.
Sylvain Giroux
Sylvain Giroux is a full professor at the department of informatic at Université de Sherbrooke, and co-foundator of the laboratory DOMUS, which is dedicated to smart homes for promoting home-care. His research program focuses on the development of assistive technology for cognition and smart environment to support individuals living with cognitive impairments.
Mélanie Couture
Mélanie Couture is an associate professor at the School of Social Work at Université de Sherbrooke, and regular researcher at the Centre for Research and Expertise in Social Gerontology.
Hélène Pigot
Hélène Pigot has co-founded the laboratory DOMUS at Sherbrooke University, which is dedicated to smart homes for promoting home-care. She combines her knowledge in computer science (PhD) and occupational therapy (BSc) to design cognitive orthoses. The design centered on people is for her the way to include end-users, caregivers and clinicians in a multidisciplinary approach. She promotes experimentations in natural settings where the evaluation of technologies is not only focused on the capacity of using them but also on their integration in the daily routine.
Guylaine Le Dorze
Guylaine Le Dorze, PhD, is a retired professor at the School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montreal and a regular researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal (CRIR). Her research interests included rehabilitation, social participation, the environment, people with communication disabilities and their families, aphasia, and speech-language therapy.
Nadia Gosselin
Nadia Gosselin is an associate professor at the department of psychology of the Université de Montréal and scientific director of the Centre for Advanced Study in Sleep Medicine.
Sareh Zarshenas
Sareh Zarshenas, PhD., OT Reg. (Ont.) is a Research officer at the University of Toronto. She has more than 15 years of research and teaching experience in academia within cross-cultural contexts. Sareh has led/co-led several research projects focusing on pathways and provision of care, determinants of short and long-term outcomes, and discharge destinations in individuals with neurocognitive disorders. She uses different research study designs and methods, including needs analyses, mixed methods, knowledge synthese/translation to meet the knowledge users' priorities and goals. Further, her research has contributed to improving healthcare provision and access using a client-centred and equity-oriented approach.
Charlotte Hendryckx
Charlotte Hendryckx is a Belgian neuropsychologist and a Ph.D. candidate in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Montreal (Quebec, Canada). She has clinical experience of assessment and rehabilitation in adult neurology, including strokes and acquired brain injuries. She is currently conducting her qualitative research on challenging behaviours in adults with traumatic brain injuries living in the community. More specifically, she is interested in the dayto-day strategies they and their family caregivers put in place to cope with their challenging behaviours in order to reduce the associated impacts. Finally, she attaches great importance to knowledge transfer and scientific communication about her thesis and traumatic brain injury in general.
Carolina Bottari
Carolina Bottari, OT, PhD, is an full professor in the occupational therapy program at the School of Rehabilitation, Université de Montréal. She is a regular researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal (CRIR). Her research expertise and interests are focused on the community-based rehabilitation of individuals having sustained a traumatic brain injury. She leads interdisciplinary research studies that bring together computer scientists and health care professionals to develop smart home technology, and the artificial intelligence underlying this technology, to assist people living with cognitive deficits.