I recently took part in “Health-Related Internet Use by Individuals with Young Onset Dementia – A Qualitative Study” with Ellen Benn, a third year Medical Student, from Nottingham University.

The study looks into how online resources could be used in the future as a service for people with young onset Dementia.

Ellen had written to me previously and I had completed the usual consent form and posted it back to her.

The interview was conducted using FaceTime, but could have been done using Skype, Zoom, BlueJeans, face to face or a simple phone call.

There were a variety of questions about technology, how I use the internet, mobile phone, apps, Alexa, etc.

WE talked about the different apps that I use, including

Microsoft Onenote

Find Friends

Email

Text

Social Media

Banking

Shopping

Notes

Zoom

We talked about how I can transfer the details of an event including travel and accommodation from an email I have been sent by the organisers to Microsoft OneNote on my PC and it automatically transfers it to my phone

We talked about how technology can be an enabler, assuming that the person is already able to use technology or can learn to use technology and that they have the cognitive ability to do so.

All in all I think it took about 30 minutes.

Another example of how simple research can be.