I decided to conduct interviews and a survey to gain more insight on the struggles hospital staff and patients face when a patient forgets their appointment.
Here are some survey responses from the elderly and their family members.
Most of the elderly also go for Hospital appointments.Most of the elderly here go for appointments monthly. Having an alarm with a date and time setting would be useful. Keeping a card with appointment timing details is the most popular method, followed by writing down the details on a calendar. This indicates that "offline" methods of noting down appointments are still preferred. This could be because the patients are used to this method and find it simpler as compared to using technology. The solutions that require the use of smartphones come in as the 3rd most popular. This group of elderly patients definitely have access to technology, and experience with using smartphones. (Cyan and orange, 17%+17%= 34%) A possible reason for patients to chose this option could be that they can receive a reminder closer to the appointment date.
From this, we understand that the elderly patients prefer a simple method, in which they can easily stay updated with hospitals.