The results are in for our MEMORehab satisfaction survey. Overall, patients report an extremely high level of satisfaction with MEMORehab and offer insights into their experience with this digital memory intervention. The present results were based on the responses of the first 25 ABI patients who reported attending at least 4 of the 6 interactive sessions of training with a clinician (You can find more details regarding methodology at the end of this blog).
Overall perceptions and feedback
Thrillingly, 100% of the respondents said YES to both of these statements: “I think my ability to remember will be better as a result of this program;” and, “I would recommend this program to others.” Some expressed gratitude for being able to participate, “I thank you so much for the opportunity.”
“I appreciate the number of methods provided, with enough for every person's circumstances and style.”
Interactive sessions with clinicians
The vast majority (96%) of the participants found the six, one-hour sessions with their clinician valuable and said YES, that they had “learned something” from these. Only 8% found that “Information presented in the sessions was difficult to understand.” A few felt that the “sessions were rushed” and that “participants were not given enough time to speak” (16% in both cases). In contrast, only 4% felt that “participants were given too much time to speak”.
One participant described the sessions with the clinician as a “Great way to discuss how we have challenges in our lives and how we were able to complete the exercises and tasks.” Furthermore, it seemed these sessions were particularly popular when run with a small group of patients, “(It) was good to be with other people in (a) similar situation as myself “ and “(I) absolutely loved the group sessions. I have participated in other online courses and these were not nearly as well planned or executed as this one.” Overall, several participants offered positive remarks on the skilfulness of the clinicians providing the program, including, “Friendly and helpful” and “staff kept it simple and enjoyable.”
(Group sessions were…) “Really well facilitated in terms of ensuring participants feel safe, listened to, valued and not judged. The communication style and respect of other participants was explained in the pre-reading & manual, and importantly it was also established in the first session. It was clear we all respected one another because we didn't over-share and we felt comfortable sharing an appropriate amount of info about our memory or condition etc without feeling judged.”
Additional Digital Resources for Practicing new Strategies
We were very pleased to see that almost all (92-96%) participants responded YES when asked specifically whether they had “learned something” from each of the four novel, computer-based memory strategy exercises and the Homework tasks in general.
One participant commented that on the computer-based exercises, one was “able to set your own pace, suiting your capacities” and another said that it was “quite satisfying once they were completed.” A third participant noted, “All of them were very good and used different learning styles to factor in different ways people think and learn. Visual learning appeals to most people.”
With regard to the Homework tasks, one said, “Some weeks there seemed to be too much homework, however, all of it was very useful.”
(The homework) “a good way to begin the useful changes into my life.”
Additional Digital Resources for Learning
A high proportion of participants also appreciated the pre-session educational videos and the quizzes on these videos. In both cases, 96% said YES, they felt they had “learned something” from these materials or found them “useful”.
One participant commented that s/he found the videos “Concise, clear, just the right amount of info & not too long. I really liked them.” More than one commented that the material presented in the Pre-session videos was a good introduction for what was presented in the session with the clinician.
(Presession Education videos:) “useful, helpful and professional”.
With regard to the quizzes that followed the videos, respondents added that they were: “a brilliant way to reinforce learning;” “a good way to know I was on the right track;” and “reasonably testing and required care in answering (good feature)”.
Pros and Cons of a Digital Platform
The survey revealed that many of the respondents struggled with the digital nature of the program. Forty percent answered YES to “The initial sign-in process and learning to use the app was difficult.” Furthermore, 24% said NO to “Finding my way around the app was easy”. For example, one person specifically mentioned that they had trouble finding the Pre-session Videos and the Computer-Based Exercises another mentioned difficulty with connecting via videoconferencing. (Despite this difficulty, all 25 in the survey persevered and completed the program.)
To address the noted difficulties with accessing and navigating the program, some participants suggested running a preliminary session to ensure everyone knows how to use the app and the inbuilt videoconferencing software. (This type of orientation session has been added as a suggestion to the program instructions in the Clinician Manual. Slides are now provided to help participants understand how to find and use the various components of MEMORehab.)
On the positive side, when asked if the Participant Instruction Manual and the App Explainer Videos (which are provided on sign-in) “were helpful,” 84% said YES in both cases. One stated that “the best thing about the program” was the assistance provided by MEMORehab’s technical support (Kyle in particular)!
Participants also reflected on the advantages of a digital program. For example, one participant remarked that a digital program gives one the ability to practice anytime, “It's great that if you want to, or need to, you can do extra quizzes.”
“The email and text prompts were great - thanks. I like the friendly prompts - keep that going.”
Suggestions for Improvement
When asked how MEMORehab might be improved, there were several suggestions offered. These included (1) adding more on ADHD, (2) some changes to the Module 6 Group session, (3) more personalised feedback, including which strategies worked best for the individual and (4) longer session times. Some participants expressed an interest in doing follow-on courses, continuing to receive information about memory tips and/or having an opportunity to continue meeting with their group.
Conclusion
Overall, we were extremely encouraged by the results from this first set of responses to our satisfaction survey. Clearly, most patients are finding the program highly valuable. The team at MEMORehab will weigh the feedback and suggestions provided so that we can continue to develop the program to satisfy both patients and clinicians. We intend to follow one participant’s advice to “keep up the good work!”
Additional details
Methodology: After completing MEMORehab’s six core training modules, participants are automatically sent an anonymous satisfaction survey. There are 26 questions. The first 19 (e.g., “The initial sign in process and learning to use the app was difficult;” “I learned something from the Pre-session videos”), have 4 possible responses: “No, not at all”, “No, not really”, “Yes, a little” and “Yes, very much so”. For the purposes of the present report, the first two and last two responses were combined and considered as either “NO” and “YES”, respectively. There are a further 7 questions that asked for comment.
Detailed Results of MEMORehab’s First Satisfaction Survey
Item (In order of appearance in survey) | Select the column that best describes your opinion (Number of responses)
| |||
No, not at all | No, not really | Yes, a little | Yes, very much so | |
The initial sign in process and learning to use the app was difficult | 8 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
Finding my way around within the MEMORehab app was easy | 1 | 5 | 5 | 14 |
The Participant Instruction Manual was useful | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
The videos that explained how to use the app were useful | 1 | 3 | 8 | 13 |
I learned something from the Education pre-session videos | 0 | 1 | 6 | 18 |
The pre-session quizzes that followed the videos were useful | 1 | 0 | 6 | 18 |
I learned something from doing the homework tasks | 0 | 2 | 5 | 18 |
I learned something from the First Letter Link Computer-based Exercise | 0 | 1 | 8 | 16 |
I learned something from the Paying Attention to Details Computer-based Exercise | 0 | 1 | 7 | 17 |
I learned something from the Name Elaboration Computer-based Exercise | 0 | 1 | 6 | 18 |
I learned something from the Note-taking Computer-based Exercise | 0 | 2 | 9 | 14 |
I learned something from the group sessions | 1 | 0 | 8 | 16 |
The group sessions were rushed | 14 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
The group sessions were too long | 18 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
In the group sessions, the material presented was difficult to understand | 16 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
In the group sessions, participants were not given enough time to speak. | 17 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
In the group sessions, participants were given too much time to speak. | 15 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
I think my ability to remember will be better as a result of this program. | 0 | 0 | 6 | 19 |
I would recommend this training program to others | 0 | 0 | 6 | 19 |