Helping the Helpers

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Problem space

This project was initiated by PIs Nicole Werner and Richard Holden and aimed to improve the outcomes of dementia patients by providing more effective tools for their caregivers. This project aims to make it easier for caregivers to track disease progression and communicate with health providers so that they can make more informed care plans.

Design Process + Solution

As a Co-Investigator on this study, I lead the participatory design and prototyping process for the project. I facilitated two co-design teams —one made up of caregivers and one of service providers—to define a new digital intervention, the “Helping the Helpers” mobile app. This app supports distributed caregiver networks by allowing them to track medication, symptoms, and notes in a common place.

The Helping the Helpers app has several features to improve the caregiving experience. [Image 1] On the medication management screen, patients or caregivers can keep track of medication usage throughout the day, [Image 2] Users are able to easily add medication and create recurring reminders, [Image 3] Caregivers can track dementia symptoms in a common place and quickly export a history of symptoms to share with doctors, [Image 4] Any user can take notes that are shared with other caregivers or providers.

Publications

Jolliff A, Loganathar P, Holden RJ, Linden A, Patel H, Lee J, Ganci A, Campbell N, Boustani M, Werner NE. (2025). “Creating User Personas to Represent the Needs of Dementia Caregivers who Support Medication Management at Home: A Persona Development Study.” JMIR Aging. 07/01/2025:63944. https://doi.org/10.2196/63944.
Jolliff, A., Holden, R. J., Valdez, R., Coller, R. J., Patel, H., Zuraw, M., Linden, A., Ganci, A., Elliott, C., & Werner, N. E. (2024). “Investigating the Best Practices for Engagement in Remote Participatory Design: Mixed Methods Analysis of 4 Remote Studies With Family Caregivers.” Journal of medical Internet research, 26, e69714. https://doi.org/10.2196/60353
Werner, N., Ganci, A., Patel, H., Thuemling, T., & Holden, R. (2024). “Co-Design of a Mobile App for Care Partners Who Manage Medications for People Living With Dementia.” Innovation in Aging, 8(Suppl 1), 294. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igae098.0959
Linden, A., Loganathar, P., Holden, R. J., Boustani, M. A., Campbell, N., Ganci, A. M., Werner, N. E. (2022). “User Personas to Guide Technology Intervention Design and Support Caregiver-assisted Medication Management.” Innovation in Aging, 6, (S1). https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igac059.2780.
Werner, N., Ganci, A. M., Boustani, M. A., Holden, R. J., Ca, N. L. (2022). “Helping the Helpers – A research protocol for user-centered technology to aid caregiver management of medications for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.” Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 18(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2022.03.014

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