scholarly journals Assistive Technologies in Dementia Care: An Updated Analysis of the Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Pappadà ◽  
Rabih Chattat ◽  
Ilaria Chirico ◽  
Marco Valente ◽  
Giovanni Ottoboni
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Decision ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Technological Support ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Review Of Reviews ◽  
Skills Learning ◽  
Mental Health Skills

Objectives: Technology can assist and support both people with dementia (PWD) and caregivers. Recently, technology has begun to embed remote components. Timely with respect to the pandemic, the present work reviews the most recent literature on technology in dementia contexts together with the newest studies about technological support published until October 2020. The final aim is to provide a synthesis of the timeliest evidence upon which clinical and non-clinical decision-makers can rely to make choices about technology in the case of further pandemic waves.Methods: A review of reviews was performed alongside a review of the studies run during the first pandemic wave. PsycInfo, CINAHL, and PubMed-online were the databases inspected for relevant papers published from January 2010.Results: The search identified 420 articles, 30 of which were reviews and nine of which were new studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Studies were first sorted according to the target population, then summarized thematically in a narrative synthesis. The studies targeting technologies for PWD were categorized as follows: monitoring and security purposes, sustaining daily life, and therapeutic interventions. Each category showed potential benefits. Differently, the interventions for caregivers were classified as informative, psycho-education programs, psychosocial-supportive, therapeutic, and cognitive/physical training. Benefits to mental health, skills learning, and social aspects emerged.Conclusions: The evidence shows that technology is well-accepted and can support PWD and caregivers to bypass physical and environmental problems both during regular times and during future pandemic waves. Nevertheless, the lack of a common methodological background is revealed by this analysis. Further and more standardized research is necessary to improve the implementation of technologies in everyday life while respecting the necessary personalization.

Empirical studies on the effectiveness of assistive technology in the care of people with dementia: a systematic review

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Fleming ◽  
Shima Sum
Keyword(s):  
Assistive Technology ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
People With Dementia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the empirical support for the use of assistive technology in the care of people with dementia as an intervention to improve independence, safety, communication, wellbeing and carer support. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 232 papers were identified as potentially relevant. Inclusion criteria were: studies published between 1995 and 2011, incorporated a control group, pre-test-post-test, cross sectional or survey design, type of interventions and types of participants. The 41 papers that met criteria were subjected to an assessment of their validity using the model provided by Forbes. Following the assessment seven papers were considered as strong, ten moderate and 24 weak. The review is presented around the following topics: independence, prompts and reminders; safety and security; leisure and lifestyle, communication and telehealth; and therapeutic interventions. Findings – The literature exploring the use of assistive technologies for increasing independence and compensating for memory problems illustrate the problems of moving from the laboratory to real life. The studies are usually limited by very small samples, high drop-out rates, very basic statistical analyses and lack of adjustment for multiple comparisons and poor performance of the technology itself. Originality/value – Research to date has been unable to establish a positive difference to the lives of people with dementia by the general use of the assistive technology reviewed here.

scholarly journals 108 - THE ROLE OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN PROMOTING SOCIAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (S1) ◽  
pp. 18-18
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Living ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Technological Support ◽  
People With Dementia

Lead: Dr. F.J.M. Meiland, Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, department of Elderly Care Medicine.A growing number of assistive technologies are being developed and evaluated in the field of dementia. With these technologies some psychosocial interventions may be delivered with more fun and/ or efficiency, which is considered important in this field with a growing number of needs and a declining number of people that can support in these needs. Technological support systems have evolved from simple, single tools to complex and integrated systems. In an INTERDEM state of the art position paper, we have reviewed issues regarding development, usability, (cost)effectiveness, deployment and ethics of assistive technologies for community dwelling people with dementia (Meiland et al., 2017). Some of these issues will be followed up in this symposium, where different types of technologies and different research methodologies in the field of dementia are presented. Scoping review, feasibility trials and randomized controlled trials are used to study various Assistive&Assisted Living services and computer-tablet interventions.

Involving people with dementia and their informal caregivers in the development process of assistive technology: Description and evaluation of a user-centered design (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris A.G.M. Geerts ◽  
Liselore J.A.E Snaphaan ◽  
Inge M.B. Bongers
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Assistive Technology ◽  
Field Study ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Informal Caregivers ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
User Centered

BACKGROUND Despite the potential value of assistive technology to support people with dementia (PWD) in everyday activities, use of these technologies is still limited. To ensure that assistive technologies better address the specific needs and daily context of PWD and their informal caregivers, it is particularly important to involve them in all different phases of assistive technology development. The literature rarely describes the involvement of PWD throughout the development process of assistive technologies, which makes it difficult to further reflect on and improve active involvement of PWD. OBJECTIVE This two-part study aimed to gather insights on the user-centered design (UCD) applied in the development process of the alpha prototype of the serious game PLAYTIME by describing the methods and procedures of the UCD as well as evaluating the UCD from the perspective of all involved stakeholders. METHODS The first three phases of the user-driven Living Lab of Innovate Dementia 2.0 were applied to directly involve PWD and their informal caregivers through qualitative research methods, including focus groups and a context-field study, in the development of the alpha prototype of PLAYTIME from exploration to design to testing. After the testing phase, a total number of 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with PWD, their informal caregivers and the project members of PLAYTIME to evaluate the applied UCD from the perspective of all involved stakeholders. The interviews addressed five of the principles for successful UCD and the appropriateness of the different methods used in the focus groups and context-field study. RESULTS Results of the interviews focused, amongst others, on the level of involvement of PWD and their informal caregivers in the development process, the input provided by PWD and their informal caregivers, the value of early prototyping, continuous iterations of design solutions and in-context testing, the role of dementia care professionals in the multidisciplinary project team, and the appropriateness of open- and closed-ended questions for obtaining input from PWD and their informal caregivers. CONCLUSIONS The description and evaluation of the UCD applied in the development process of the alpha prototype of PLAYTIME resulted in several insights on the relevance of UCD for all involved stakeholders as well as how PWD can be involved in the subsequent phases of usable and meaningful assistive technology development.

Potential Benefits of Animal-Detecting Automatic Emergency Braking Systems Based on U.S. Driving Data

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110124
Author(s):  
Jeremy A. Decker ◽  
Samantha H. Haus ◽  
Rini Sherony ◽  
Hampton C. Gabler
Keyword(s):  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Low Light ◽  
Emergency Braking ◽  
Target Populations ◽  
Light Trucks ◽  
Naturalistic Driving Study ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Crash Characteristics

In 2015, there were 319,195 police reported vehicle-animal crashes, resulting in 275 vehicle occupant fatalities. Animal-detecting automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems are a promising active safety measure which could potentially avoid or mitigate many of these crashes by warning the driver, utilizing automatic braking, or both. The purpose of this study was to develop and characterize a target population of vehicle-animal crashes applicable to AEB systems and to analyze the potential benefits of an animal-detecting AEB system. The study was based on two nationally representative databases, Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the National Automotive Sampling System’s General Estimates System, and a naturalistic driving study, SHRP 2. The target population was restricted to vehicle-animal crashes that were forward impacts or road departures and involved cars and light trucks, with no loss of control. Crash characteristics which may influence the performance of AEB such as lighting, weather, pre-crash movement, relation to junction, and first and worst harmful events, were analyzed. The study found that the major influences on the effectiveness of animal AEB systems were: weather, lighting, pre-crash movements, and the crash location. Six potential target populations were used to analyze the potential effectiveness of an animal AEB system, with effectiveness ranging between 21.6% and 97% of police reported crashes and between 4.1% and 50.8% of fatal vehicle-animal crashes. An AEB system’s ability to function in low light and poor weather conditions may enable it to avoid a substantially higher proportion of crashes.

scholarly journals Personalisation, customisation and bricolage: how people with dementia and their families make assistive technology work for them

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 2502-2519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Gibson ◽  
Claire Dickinson ◽  
Katie Brittain ◽  
Louise Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Technology Use ◽  
Dementia Care ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Everyday Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Manage Care ◽  
Age In Place ◽  
Care Services ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
The Everyday

AbstractAssistive technologies (ATs) are being ‘mainstreamed’ within dementia care, where they are promoted as enabling people with dementia to age in place alongside delivering greater efficiencies in care. AT provision focuses upon standardised solutions, with little known about how ATs are used by people with dementia and their carers within everyday practice. This paper explores how people with dementia and carers use technologies in order to manage care. Findings are reported from qualitative semi-structured interviews with 13 people with dementia and 26 family carers. Readily available household technologies were used in conjunction with and instead of AT to address diverse needs, replicating AT functions when doing so. Successful technology use was characterised by ‘bricolage’ or the non-conventional use of tools or methods to address local needs. Carers drove AT use by engaging creatively with both assistive and everyday technologies, however, carers were not routinely supported in their creative engagements with technology by statutory health or social care services, making bricolage a potentially frustrating and wasteful process. Bricolage provides a useful framework to understand how technologies are used in the everyday practice of dementia care, and how technology use can be supported within care. Rather than implementing standardised AT solutions, AT services and AT design in future should focus on how technologies can support more personalised, adaptive forms of care.

scholarly journals Design and implementation of an international, multi-arm, multi-stage platform master protocol for trials of novel SARS-CoV-2 antiviral agents: Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 (TICO/ACTIV-3)

2021 ◽  
pp. 174077452110498
Author(s):  
Daniel D Murray ◽  
Abdel G Babiker ◽  
Jason V Baker ◽  
Christina E Barkauskas ◽  
Samuel M Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antiviral Agents ◽  
Safety Data ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Therapeutic Agents ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Multi Stage

Background/aims Safe and effective therapies for COVID-19 are urgently needed. In order to meet this need, the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines public–private partnership initiated the Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19. Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 is a multi-arm, multi-stage platform master protocol, which facilitates the rapid evaluation of the safety and efficacy of novel candidate antiviral therapeutic agents for adults hospitalized with COVID-19. Five agents have so far entered the protocol, with rapid answers already provided for three of these. Other agents are expected to enter the protocol throughout 2021. This protocol contains a number of key design and implementation features that, along with challenges faced by the protocol team, are presented and discussed. Methods Three clinical trial networks, encompassing a global network of clinical sites, participated in the protocol development and implementation. Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 utilizes a multi-arm, multi-stage design with an agile and robust approach to futility and safety evaluation at 300 patients enrolled, with subsequent expansion to full sample size and an expanded target population if the agent shows an acceptable safety profile and evidence of efficacy. Rapid recruitment to multiple agents is enabled through the sharing of placebo, the confining of agent-specific information to protocol appendices, and modular consent forms. In collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration, a thorough safety data collection and Data and Safety Monitoring Board schedule was developed for the study of potential therapeutic agents with limited in-human data in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Results As of 8 August 2021, five agents have entered the Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 master protocol and a total of 1909 participants have been randomized to one of these agents or matching placebo. There were a number of challenges faced by the study team that needed to be overcome in order to successfully implement Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 across a global network of sites. These included ensuring drug supply and reliable recruitment allowing for changing infection rates across the global network of sites, the need to balance the collection of data and samples without overburdening clinical staff and obtaining regulatory approvals across a global network of sites. Conclusion Through a robust multi-network partnership, the Therapeutics for Inpatients with COVID-19 protocol has been successfully used across a global network of sites for rapid generation of efficacy data on multiple novel antiviral agents. The protocol design and implementation features used in this protocol, and the approaches to address challenges, will have broader applicability. Mechanisms to facilitate improved communication and harmonization among country-specific regulatory bodies are required to achieve the full potential of this approach in dealing with a global outbreak.

Assistive Technologies for People with Dementia

2015 ◽  
pp. 269-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos N. Xenakidis ◽  
Antonis M. Hadjiantonis ◽  
George M. Milis
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Basic Needs ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Smart Devices ◽  
Empirical Knowledge ◽  
Disease Symptoms ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Early Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Available Technology

This chapter focuses on the presentation and discussion of available assistive tools for people with dementia symptoms and cognitive decline, leading to the conclusion that these tools may, nowadays, will be replaced by mobile applications for smart devices. A functional mobile prototype assistive application for android platform devices like smartphones, tablets and smartwatches is presented, with features that offer support to the basic needs of caregivers and people with cognitive decline, giving more emphasis on people with early Alzheimer's disease symptoms. It is shown that, utilising the available technology, as well as existing literature and empirical knowledge, mobile applications may offer a serious alternative to currently available assistive tools, while also offering considerable functionality advantages.

Developing Assistive Interventions

2015 ◽  
pp. 637-652
Author(s):  
Sitwat Langrial
Keyword(s):  
Behavior Change ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Persuasive Technology ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Healthy Living ◽  
Digital Interventions ◽  
Supported Living ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
New Research

Digital interventions have received a great deal of attention from researchers and scholars. Development, implementation, and evaluation of behavior change, and assistive technologies for improved living are being increasingly studied. Assistive technologies in particular have opened up venues for technological advancements for supported living for people with mental and physical disabilities. This chapter is conceptual in nature and discusses the emergence of digital interventions for improved living. Further advancement of a relatively new research field of Persuasive Technology is discussed that is largely related to supporting healthy living. The aim of the chapter is to review early digital interventions and emergence of behavior change and assistive technologies. It highlights potential benefits that could be realized through the use of carefully designed behavior change and assistive technologies. In addition, several key challenges, promises, and pitfalls are briefly outlined. Presented knowledge would help researchers and practitioners in abstracting, designing, and evaluating assistive technologies.

Northern Ireland

2019 ◽  
pp. 203-210
Author(s):  
Emma Louise Cunningham ◽  
Stephen Todd ◽  
Conor Barton ◽  
Peter Passmore
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Dementia Care ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Therapeutic Interventions ◽  
Coordination Of Care ◽  
Strategic Issues ◽  
Code Of Practice ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Mental Capacity Act ◽  
Successful Production

The Northern Ireland (NI) Dementia Strategy was launched in November 2011, with similar strategic issues and priorities to those identified in the English, Welsh, and Scottish documents. There are a number of aspects of dementia care in NI of which the province can be proud, several of which are outlined. One of the major achievements has been the successful production of the Mental Capacity Act, which awaits implementation and publication of a code of practice for clinicians. Other challenges include the coordination of care for people with dementia across the healthcare spectrum and the anticipation and incorporation into practice of evolving diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.

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