Usability of an automated medication dispensation device and adherence dashboard: A study protocol

Non-adherence to prescribed medication regimens can lead to suboptimal control of chronic health conditions and increased hospitalizations. Older adults may find it particularly challenging to self-manage medications due to physical and cognitive limitations, resulting in medication non-adherence. While automated medication dispensing technologies may offer a solution for medication self-management among older adults, these technologies must demonstrate usability before effectiveness can be investigated and products made available for widespread use. This study will aim to measure usability, workload, and unassisted task completion rates of an automated medication dispenser and medication adherence dashboard on the Medipense portal with older adults and their clinicians, respectively. This study is designed as a convergent parallel mixed-methods observational study with older adults and their clinicians. Usability will be examined with the use of the System Usability Scale (SUS) while NASA Load Index (NASA-TLX) will be utilized to assess the workload of both the device and the adherence monitoring platform. Cognitive walkthrough will be utilized prior to usability testing to identify series of steps required to use the automated dispenser and adherence dashboard. The study will assess the unassisted task completion rates to successfully operate the device. Semi-structured interviews with both types of participants will provide qualitative data with which to comprehensively gauge the automated dispenser user experience. The results of this study will allow us to examine usability of both the automated medication dispensing system and the adherence monitoring dashboard from older adult and health-care provider perspectives. The results of this study will highlight and address the challenges with usability that older adults and health-care providers may face with this device and dashboard. The results of this study will be used to optimize the usability of both the automated medication dispenser and the adherence dashboard. In clinical practice, usability of technology is important to establish prior to full-scale implementation. Products that are not user friendly, add to workload, impact workflow, or are difficult to navigate by both clinicians and population in general may not be adopted. Usability permits an evaluation of the products, to identify problems that must be addressed prior to implementation and to ensure products are useful in clinical practice.