Remote Passive Sensing of Older Adults’ Activities and Function: User-Centered Design Considerations for Behavioral Interventions Conducted in the Home Setting

Behavioral intervention studies often lack sufficiently sensitive and frequent measurements to observe an effect. Remote passive sensing offers a highly sensitive, continuous, and ecologically valid method of assessment that increases the ability to detect changes in the daily activities and function of those being monitored. To be most effectively deployed in research studies, applications of remote assessment technology must be designed with the end user in mind. User-centered design (UCD) is especially important in clinical trials where the needs and characteristics of participants and research staff need to be uniquely considered to ensure the feasibility and acceptability of the study. This paper describes UCD issues in remote passive sensing that commonly arise among older adult participants—including those living with dementia—as well as any strategies that were taken to overcome them. Using exemplars from the National Institute on Aging–funded Roybal Center ORCASTRAIT (Oregon Roybal Center for Care Support Translational Research Advantaged by Integrating Technology), as well as other experimental and observational research studies conducted in community settings, this paper brings together our collective experiences with studies using remote passive sensing technology that incorporate a UCD design approach. Although passive sensing eliminates some common UCD issues that arise with higher-touch technology, issues, such as usability, trust, and aesthetic acceptability, still need to be addressed for behavioral interventions using passive sensing technology to be potent and implementable.