New Volume/Issue is now available on ScienceDirect, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/issue/5644-2010-999779995-2041800

I am pleased to announce that the latest issue of the journal, Interacting with Computers,  Volume 22, Issue 4, Pages 241-312 (July 2010) is now available.

This is a Special Issue, edited by Gavin Doherty and Timothy Bickmore on the topic: Supportive Interaction: Computer Interventions for Mental Health.


Contents:

Editorial: Gavin Doherty, Timothy Bickmore

Design and evaluation guidelines for mental health technologies.
Gavin Doherty, David Coyle, Mark Matthews
Abstract
It is increasingly recognised that technology has the potential to significantly improve access, engagement, effectiveness and affordability of treatment for mental health problems. The development of such technology has recently become the subject of Human–Computer Interaction research. As an emerging area with a unique set of constraints and design concerns, there is a need to establish guidelines which encapsulate the knowledge gained from existing development projects. We present an initial set of design guidelines extracted from the literature and from a series of development projects for software to support mental health interventions. The first group of guidelines pertain to the design process itself, addressing the limitations in access to clients in mental healthcare settings, and strategies for collaborative design with therapists. The second group considers major design factors in the development of these technologies, including therapeutic models, client factors, and privacy. The third group concerns conduct of the evaluation process, and the constraints on evaluating mental healthcare technologies. We motivate and explain these guidelines with reference to concrete design projects and problems.


Problems people with dementia have with kitchen tasks: The challenge for pervasive computing.
Joseph P. Wherton, Andrew F. Monk
Abstract
Technologies from pervasive computing can be used to ameliorate the difficulties that people with dementia have with multi-step tasks. This paper is intended to inform the design of technologies that help people perform daily tasks, by prompting them when they have difficulties, thus fostering independence and quality of life. Six people with mild to moderate dementia were video recorded performing activities of their own choosing in the familiar context of their own kitchens. In total there were 22 video recordings. Activities included making a cup of tea or coffee, a bowl of soup, beans on toast, or coffee with toast. The video recordings were transcribed using an adapted version of the Action Coding System. Incidents, where prompting was judged to be needed were categorised using a data-driven analysis as problems in: Sequencing (intrusion, omission and repetition), Finding things (locating and identifying), Operation of appliances, and Incoherence (toying and inactivity). Detailed examples of each type of incident, and the contexts in which it occurred, are provided as a resource for the design of pervasive computing solutions. What needs to be detected and what form prompts might take is specified for each category.


Using a touch screen computer to support relationships between people with dementia and caregivers.
Arlene J. Astell, Maggie P. Ellis, Lauren Bernardi, Norman Alm, Richard Dye, Gary Gowans, Jim Campbell
Abstract
Progressive and irreversible cognitive impairments affect the ability of people with dementia to communicate and interact with caregivers. This places a burden on caregivers to initiate and manage interactions to the extent that they may avoid all but essential communication. CIRCA is an interactive, multimedia touch screen system that contains a wide range of stimuli to prompt reminiscing. The intention is that people with dementia and caregivers will explore CIRCA together, using the recollections sparked by the media as the basis for conversations. This paper reports an evaluation of the utility of CIRCA looking particularly at whether CIRCA can meet the needs of both people with dementia and caregivers to engage in mutually satisfying interactions. The findings confirm that people with dementia can use the touch screen system and that the contents prompt them to reminisce. The system also supports caregivers to interact with people with dementia as more equal participants in the conversation. The results suggest that interacting with the touch screen system is engaging and enjoyable for people with dementia and caregivers alike and provides a supportive interaction environment that positively benefits their relationships.


Maintaining reality: Relational agents for antipsychotic medication adherence.
Timothy W. Bickmore, Kathryn Puskar, Elizabeth A. Schlenk, Laura M. Pfeifer, Susan M. Sereika
Abstract
We describe an animated, conversational computer agent designed to promote antipsychotic medication adherence among patients with schizophrenia. In addition to medication adherence, the agent also promotes physical activity and system usage, and includes verbal and nonverbal behaviour designed to foster a therapeutic alliance with patients. We discuss special considerations in designing interventions for this patient population, and challenges in developing and evaluating conversational agents in the mental health domain. Results from a pilot evaluation study of the agent indicate that it is accepted and effective.


Response to a relational agent by hospital patients with depressive symptoms.
Timothy W. Bickmore, Suzanne E. Mitchell, Brian W. Jack, Michael K. Paasche-Orlow, Laura M. Pfeifer, Julie O’Donnell
Abstract
Depression affects approximately 15% of the US population, and is recognised as an important risk factor for poor outcomes among patients with various illnesses. Automated health education and behaviour change programs have the potential to help address many of the shortcomings in health care. However, the role of these systems in the care of patients with depression has been insufficiently examined. In the current study, we sought to evaluate how hospitalised medical patients would respond to a computer animated conversational agent that has been developed to provide information in an empathic fashion about a patient’s hospital discharge plan. In particular, we sought to examine how patients who have a high level of depressive symptoms respond to this system. Therapeutic alliance – the trust and belief that a patient and provider have in working together to achieve a desired therapeutic outcome – was used as the primary outcome measure, since it has been shown to be important in predicting outcomes across a wide range of health problems, including depression. In an evaluation of 139 hospital patients who interacted with the agent at the time of discharge, all patients, regardless of depressive symptoms, rated the agent very high on measures of satisfaction and ease of use, and most preferred receiving their discharge information from the agent compared to their doctors or nurses in the hospital. In addition, we found that patients with symptoms indicative of major depression rated the agent significantly higher on therapeutic alliance compared to patients who did not have major depressive symptoms. We conclude that empathic agents represent a promising technology for patient assessment, education and counselling for those most in need of comfort and caring in the inpatient setting.


The therapist user interface of a virtual reality exposure therapy system in the treatment of fear of flying.
Willem-Paul Brinkman, Charles van der Mast, Guntur Sandino, Lucy T. Gunawan, Paul M.G. Emmelkamp
Abstract
The use of virtual reality (VR) technology to support the treatment of patients with phobia, such as the fear of flying, is getting considerable research attention. Research mainly focuses on the patient experience and the effect of the treatment. In this paper, however, the focus is on the interaction therapists have with the system. Two studies are presented in which the therapist user interface is redesigned and evaluated. The first study was conducted in 2001 with the introduction of the system into the clinic. The original user interface design was compared with a redesign that was based on interviews with therapists. The results of a user study with five therapists and 11 students showed significant usability improvement. In 2008 a follow-up study was conducted on how therapists were now using the redesigned system. Using a direct observation approach six therapists were observed during a total of 14 sessions with patients. The analysis showed that: 93% of the exposures had similar patterns, therapists triggered 20 inappropriate sound recordings (e.g. the pilot giving height information while taking off), and more complex airplane simulation functions (e.g. roll control to make turns with the airplane) were only used by a therapist who was also a pilot. This resulted in a second redesign of the user interface, which allowed therapists to select flight scenarios (e.g. a flight with extra long taxiing, a flight with multiple taking off and landing sessions) instead of controlling the simulation manually. This new design was again evaluated with seven therapists. Again, results showed significant usability improvements. These findings led to five design guidelines with the main tenet in favour of a treatment-focused user interface (i.e. specific flying scenario) instead of a simulation-focused user interface (i.e. specific airplane controls).


Most Cited Paper Award, 2009. To Dianne Cyr, Khaled Hassanein, Milena Head, and Alex Ivanov, for “The role of social presence in establishing loyalty in e-Service environments”, Interacting with Computers, Vol. 19.1 (2007) 43–56. Published as a contribution to the Special Issue on Moving Face-to-Face communication to Web-based systems, edited by Jane Coughlan, Robert Macredie and Nayna Patel.

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