Understanding barriers to medical instruction access for older adults: implications for AI-assisted tools

Recalling medical instructions provided during a doctor's visit can be difficult due to access barriers, primarily for older adults who visit doctors multiple times per year and rely on their memory to act on doctor's recommendations. There are several interventions that aid patients in recalling information after doctors' visits; however, some have been proven ineffective, and those that are effective can present additional challenges for older adults. In this paper, we explore the challenges that older adults with chronic illnesses face when collecting and recalling medical instructions from multiple doctors' visits and discuss implications for AI-assisted tools to enable older adults better access medical instructions. We interviewed 12 older adults to understand their strategies for gathering and recalling information, the challenges they face, and their opinions about automatic transcription of their conversations with doctors to help them recall information after a visit. We found that participants face accessibility challenges such as hearing information and recalling medical instructions that require additional time or follow-up with the doctor. Therefore, patients saw potential value for a tool that automatically transcribes and helps with recall of medical instructions, but desired additional features to summarize, categorize, and highlight critical information from the conversations with their doctors.