Pilot 7 Mind & Mouth Lessons Learned from Co-creation Workshops on Persona development for Oral Health and wellbeing
In September, the MFU & VSTE team held the COMFORTage co-creation workshop for Pilot M&M – Mind and Mouth. M&Ms explores the connection between improved oral health and overall well-being, particularly focusing on individuals with varying levels of cognitive impairment or dementia. Furthermore, our aim is to investigate whether enhancing everyday oral hygiene practices can positively impact both oral health and brain function. Ultimately, this could lead to significant improvements in overall quality of life.
Collaborative Learning and Empowerment in Oral Health
By fostering collaborative learning environments, we encourage participants to share knowledge, exchange experiences, and develop new skills, empowering them to take charge of their oral health. Using innovative digital tools and supportive methodologies, we are designing personalized, accessible guidance to make oral health advice more tailored and easier to follow.
Understanding User Needs with Blueprint Personas
During the co-creation workshops, we identified user needs by applying the Blueprint Personas approach. This allowed us to gain insight into user’s priorities, health concerns, routines, treatments, and levels of digital literacy. Based on this understanding, we co-created two models that align closely with user’s needs.
Lessons Learned from the Workshop
The following lessons provide valuable guidance for designing future workshops, ensuring they remain effective, inclusive, and impactful:
- Importance of a welcoming atmosphere that encourages participants to feel at ease and engaged from the start.
- Effective communication, clear and concise presentations of project goals and methodologies is essential for fostering participant understanding and ensuring meaningful involvement.
- Value of Social Learning that promotes knowledge sharing and skill development. However, people may feel self-conscious or embarrassed if they struggle in front of others. It is crucial to allow for personalized, paced skill development that accommodates individual needs and comfort levels. Additionally, the intervention should consider one’s perception of older adults, individuals with dementia, and attitudes toward digital inclusion
- Collaborative Persona Development where participants collaboratively develop personas, offer valuable insights into the needs and perspectives of the target population. Presenting the co-creation methodology proved beneficial. Showcasing practical cases of persona implementation helps clarify objectives and ensure relevance. To enhance future efforts, diverse user groups must be engaged. Comprehensive insights into workflows and daily routines are essential. Communication should include carers, family members, and others in the older adults’ environment, such as IT staff, doorkeepers, coffee shop workers, and volunteers.
- Integration of Technology and Digital Twin Inception can enhance the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve health, well-being, and digital twin co-creation. When introducing new technologies, it is fundamental to thoroughly understand existing workflows to ensure a seamless integration.
- Tailored Motivational Strategies must be customized to meet the specific needs. Older adults benefit from structured guidance on staying active and maintaining independence, while care staff require tools to support well-being and self-esteem. Carers should be involved at every stage of the process. The interventions must be adaptable to individual’s cognitive abilities and physical limitations, with the flexibility to evolve over time as needs change.
- Addressing Digital Literacy and consider participant’s prior experience, and individual preferences. Best practices should prioritize the use of simple and accessible tools, structured guidance, personalized approaches. Offering a variety of resources can enhance engagement and accommodate diverse learning styles.
- Monitoring and evaluation processes are essential for assessing the impact of interventions and identifying areas of improvement.
- Stakeholder engagement gathers valuable insights and validates findings, enriching the intervention’s relevance and effectiveness.
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Pictures used from https://pixabay.com/
**Article written by Špela Glišović Krivec, David Krivec, Teja Štrempfel. The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ljubljana (MFU) & VSTE . A key partner in the COMFORTage project
