Evaluation of Personas and Daily Activity Maps to Inform Clinical Care and Socially Assistive Robot Training and Design for Persons With Dementia: Mixed Methods Study.
7 affiliations
- 1Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, University of California Irvine, 854 Health Sciences Rd, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States, 1 949-824-8932.
- 2Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States.
- 3Research Center for Digital Innovation, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States.
- 4NaviGAIT, Irvine, CA, United States.
- 5Amore Senior Living, Laguna Niguel, CA, United States.
- 6Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Henry Samueli School of Engineering, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States.
- 7Smart Forward, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, United States.
Abstract
Background
Over 55 million people worldwide are living with dementia, resulting in significant caregiving demands and caregiver burden. Socially assistive robots (SARs) are increasingly being explored to reduce caregiving workload and improve the quality of life for persons with dementia; however, their effectiveness depends on person-centered design grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the target population. Personas and their corresponding daily activity maps (DAMs) are user-centered design tools that provide a holistic understanding of the personal, medical, emotional, and life trajectory of persons with dementia, enabling SARs to engage in contextually relevant and empathetic interactions. Despite their potential, these tools have not been formally evaluated for dementia care and digital health technology development.Objective
This mixed methods study aimed to explore the perspectives of professional and family caregivers, health care providers, and robot designers on the quality and use of personas and DAMs in clinical practice and digital health design.Methods
Using purposive sampling, 15 stakeholders involved in dementia care or digital health design were interviewed via Zoom (Zoom Communications, Inc) between March and April 2025 to evaluate a subset of persona-DAM pairs using a modified 12-item version of the Persona Perception Scale (PPS), adapted for dementia care contexts, across 5 domains: Credibility, Completeness, Clarity, Willingness to Use, and Empathy. Participants subsequently provided qualitative perspectives through semistructured interviews, reflecting on their ratings and offering suggestions for improvement.Results
Fifteen participants with a median of 9 (IQR 4-15) years of experience in dementia care evaluated 9 persona-DAM pairs. Overall evaluation-level median PPS scores were 4.79 (IQR 4.45, 4.91) for personas and 4.76 (IQR 4.45, 4.94) for DAMs. For both personas and DAMs, the highest-rated domains were Clarity, Credibility, and Willingness to Use (all median 5.00), suggesting stakeholders perceived the tools favorably and were willing to use them. Empathy scores (personas: median 4.67, IQR 4.25-5; DAMs: median 4.83, IQR 4.33-5) highlighted the need for greater cultural, ethnic, and religious representation to foster culturally sensitive interventions. Completeness was the lowest-scoring domain (personas: median 4.50, IQR 3.94-5; DAMs: median 4.38, IQR 4-5), representing the most quantitative improvement suggestions. Qualitative analysis revealed 3 major themes: (1) improving human-robot interaction training through greater knowledge of the personal context of persons with dementia; (2) comprehensive assessment of clinical history and functional capacities as essential for the provision of safe and effective interaction; and (3) perceived design utility: translating person-centered knowledge into actionable tools.Conclusions
This study provides early-stage exploratory evidence that personas and DAMs are perceived as clinically and technically relevant tools for dementia care, complementing existing clinical documentation through a holistic, person-centered view, and serving as human-centered design tools for developing personalized digital health solutions.
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BibTeX
@article{nyamathi2026evaluation,
title = {{Evaluation of Personas and Daily Activity Maps to Inform Clinical Care and Socially Assistive Robot Training and Design for Persons With Dementia: Mixed Methods Study.}},
author = {Adeline Nyamathi and Mahkameh Rasouli and Cheonkam Jeong and Sabine Brunswicker and Elena Agapie and Jocelyn Ludlow and Riyam Jawad and Chet Khay and Audrey Lu and Jessica Ding Liao and Saba Azizabadi Farahani and Jung-Ah Lee and Nikil Dutt and Amir Rahmani and Erik Krogh},
journal = {Journal of medical Internet research},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.2196/85651},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42954872},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Evaluation of Personas and Daily Activity Maps to Inform Clinical Care and Socially Assistive Robot Training and Design for Persons With Dementia: Mixed Methods Study.
AU - Adeline Nyamathi
AU - Mahkameh Rasouli
AU - Cheonkam Jeong
AU - Sabine Brunswicker
AU - Elena Agapie
AU - Jocelyn Ludlow
AU - Riyam Jawad
AU - Chet Khay
AU - Audrey Lu
AU - Jessica Ding Liao
AU - Saba Azizabadi Farahani
AU - Jung-Ah Lee
AU - Nikil Dutt
AU - Amir Rahmani
AU - Erik Krogh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Journal of medical Internet research
DO - 10.2196/85651
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42954872
AB - Background Over 55 million people worldwide are living with dementia, resulting in significant caregiving demands and caregiver burden. Socially assistive robots (SARs) are increasingly being explored to reduce caregiving workload and improve the quality of life for persons with dementia; however, their effectiveness depends on person-centered design grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the target population. Personas and their corresponding daily activity maps (DAMs) are user-centered design tools that provide a holistic understanding of the personal, medical, emotional, and life trajectory of persons with dementia, enabling SARs to engage in contextually relevant and empathetic interactions. Despite their potential, these tools have not been formally evaluated for dementia care and digital health technology development.Objective This mixed methods study aimed to explore the perspectives of professional and family caregivers, health care providers, and robot designers on the quality and use of personas and DAMs in clinical practice and digital health design.Methods Using purposive sampling, 15 stakeholders involved in dementia care or digital health design were interviewed via Zoom (Zoom Communications, Inc) between March and April 2025 to evaluate a subset of persona-DAM pairs using a modified 12-item version of the Persona Perception Scale (PPS), adapted for dementia care contexts, across 5 domains: Credibility, Completeness, Clarity, Willingness to Use, and Empathy. Participants subsequently provided qualitative perspectives through semistructured interviews, reflecting on their ratings and offering suggestions for improvement.Results Fifteen participants with a median of 9 (IQR 4-15) years of experience in dementia care evaluated 9 persona-DAM pairs. Overall evaluation-level median PPS scores were 4.79 (IQR 4.45, 4.91) for personas and 4.76 (IQR 4.45, 4.94) for DAMs. For both personas and DAMs, the highest-rated domains were Clarity, Credibility, and Willingness to Use (all median 5.00), suggesting stakeholders perceived the tools favorably and were willing to use them. Empathy scores (personas: median 4.67, IQR 4.25-5; DAMs: median 4.83, IQR 4.33-5) highlighted the need for greater cultural, ethnic, and religious representation to foster culturally sensitive interventions. Completeness was the lowest-scoring domain (personas: median 4.50, IQR 3.94-5; DAMs: median 4.38, IQR 4-5), representing the most quantitative improvement suggestions. Qualitative analysis revealed 3 major themes: (1) improving human-robot interaction training through greater knowledge of the personal context of persons with dementia; (2) comprehensive assessment of clinical history and functional capacities as essential for the provision of safe and effective interaction; and (3) perceived design utility: translating person-centered knowledge into actionable tools.Conclusions This study provides early-stage exploratory evidence that personas and DAMs are perceived as clinically and technically relevant tools for dementia care, complementing existing clinical documentation through a holistic, person-centered view, and serving as human-centered design tools for developing personalized digital health solutions.
SN - 1439-4456
SN - 1438-8871
ER -