New technology such as smart assistants (Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri, etc) are now becoming more available to people. They present an opportunity to assist people living with cognitive impairment in many ways.
One opportunity is to use these technologies to support the delivery of psychotherapy to people experiencing anxiety. These technologies may help the person to connect with their therapist and to access resources at other times.
It is important to involve people who are living with cognitive impairment in the process of designing and developing these technologies to ensure that the technology meets their needs and how they want to use those technologies. One approach to do this is co-design.
Our project
Our study aims to design and develop a new technology platform (Tech-CBT) that will allow people to access a CBT program through different technologies including a smart assistant and their mobile phones. We are also studying the process of technology design as well as the specific needs of people for a technology that supports psychotherapy.
The technology we develop will then be used in a future trial.
We are using a co-design approach where we will form a team of people that includes people living with cognitive impairment, their care partners, family and friends, psychologists, technology designers and developers, researchers and other stakeholders. That team will go through the process of designing and developing that technology.
Contact
Associate Professor Nadeeka Dissanayaka
BSc (Hons1), PhD, Principal Research Fellow NHMRC Boosting Dementia Research Leadership Fellow Head, Dementia
and Neuro Mental Health Research Unit, The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research Faculty of Medicine
If you are interested in participating, please contact us by either email or phone using:
T: 07 3346 5036 or 07 3346 5577
E: anxietyresearch@uq.edu.au