State-of-the-Art Assistive Technology for People with Dementia

The work is motivated by the expanding demand and limited supply of long-term personal care for People with Dementia (PwD), and assistive technology as an alternative. Telecare allows PwD to live in the comfort of their homes for a longer time. It is challenging to have remote care in smart homes with ambient intelligence, using devices, networks, and activity and plan recognition. Our scope is limited to mostly related work on existing execution environments in smart homes, and activity and plan recognition algorithms which can be applied to PwD living in smart homes. PwD and caregiver needs are addressed in a more holistic healthcare approach, domain challenges include doctor validation and erroneous behaviour, and technical challenges include high maintenance and low accuracy. State-of-the-art devices, networks, activity and plan recognition for physical health are presented; ideas for developing mental training for mental health and social networking for social health are explored. There are two implications of this work: more needs to be done for assistive technology to improve PwD’s mental and social health, and assistive software is not highly accurate and persuasive yet. Our work applies not only to PwD, but also the elderly without dementia and people with intellectual disabilities.

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Family Care for Older Adults With Disabilities: Toward More Targeted and Interpretable Research

The International Journal of Aging and Human Development ◽

10.2190/fack-qe61-y2j8-5l68 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 54 (3) ◽

pp. 205-231 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

Joseph E. Gaugler ◽

Robert L. Kane ◽

Rosalie A. Kane

Keyword(s):

Family Involvement ◽

Family Caregiving ◽

Long Term Care ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Family Care ◽

The Elderly ◽

Term Care ◽

Residential Settings ◽

The Past

Family care of the elderly is key to the long-term care system, and its importance has led to an abundance of research over the past two decades. Several methodological and substantive issues, if addressed, could create even more targeted and interpretable research. The present review critically examines methodological topics (i.e., definitions of family caregiving, measurement of caregiving inputs) and conceptual issues (i.e., family involvement in long-term residential settings, and the care receiver's perspective on care) that have received insufficient attention in the caregiving literature. Throughout this review recommendations are offered to improve these areas and advance the state of the art.

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VR Applied Asobi-Litation System for Dementia Elderly in Group Homes

Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics ◽

10.20965/jrm.2007.p0698 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 19 (6) ◽

pp. 698-704 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Mieko Ohsuga ◽

◽

Yumiko Inoue ◽

Wataru Hashimoto ◽

Fumitaka Nakaizumi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Group Home ◽

The Elderly ◽

Group Homes ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Rehabilitation System ◽

System Use ◽

System Acceptance ◽

Positive Effect

The “Asobilitation” (Japanese “asobi,” meaning “play,” replaces the “rehab” in “rehabilitation”) system we developed using virtual reality and targeting physical and mental improvement in elderly people with dementia was applied to residents of a group home for the aged, “Nishiyama no Sato.” A pair of residents, or a resident and a caregiver, took part in a cooperative game using bicycling or a balancing exercise. First experiment was executed to evaluate system acceptance and over two thirds of the residents participated indicating that they found the system at least interesting and easy enough to try out. Second experiment was designed for effect assessment of system use, however it showed no clear positive effect of the system on walking, despite our objectives of having the system improve mobility and reverse lower-leg muscle deterioration. A study is thus needed on the system’s continuous, long-term effects, and we must develop an easier way to assess walking function in the elderly with dementia.

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Thailand

Dementia Care: International Perspectives ◽

10.1093/med/9780198796046.003.0013 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 93-100

Author(s):

Sookjaroen Tangwongchai ◽

Chavit Tunvirachaisakul ◽

Thitiporn Supasitthumrong ◽

Kanitpong Phabphal ◽

Pichet Udomratn

Keyword(s):

Public Awareness ◽

Universal Coverage ◽

The Elderly ◽

Multidisciplinary Teams ◽

Thai Population ◽

Term Care ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Care And Support ◽

Care System

Thailand has unique advantages and challenges in caring for people with dementia. Thailand is in the process of launching its National Dementia Strategy, based on the previously developed care and support policies for the elderly. Currently, care for people with dementia is provided through integrated community care by family and health volunteers, and care costs are covered by the Universal Coverage Scheme. The main challenges are to raise public awareness of dementia, to improve healthcare capacity, and to prepare for a long-term care system. There needs to be focus on innovative medical management and prevention strategies to tackle dementia in Thailand. In the future, Thailand expects to see an improvement in public education about dementia, an increase in specialist training involving multidisciplinary teams, the emergence of sustainable long-term community-based care, and the expansion of an accessible care system with adequate standards for the Thai population.

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A systematic review of electronic assistive technology within supporting living environments for people with dementia

Dementia ◽

10.1177/1471301217733649 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 18 (7-8) ◽

pp. 2371-2435 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Jean Daly Lynn ◽

Janeet Rondón-Sulbarán ◽

Eamon Quinn ◽

Assumpta Ryan ◽

Brendan McCormack ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Assistive Technology ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Residential Care ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Health And Social Care ◽

Supported Living ◽

Technology Intervention ◽

Living Environments

Health and social care provision needs to change in order to meet the needs of an increase in the number of people living with dementia. Environmental design, technology and assistive devices have the potential to complement care, help address some of the challenges presented by this growing need and impact on the lived experience of this vulnerable population. This systematic review was undertaken to identify the research on the use of electronic assistive technology within long-term residential care settings. A total of 3229 papers published from the inception of each of the databases up until May 2016 were retrieved from searches in four major databases. Sixty-one were identified to be included in the review. The inclusion criteria were: original peer reviewed journals; an electronic assistive technology intervention; with residents or tenants living with dementia or their family or paid caregivers; in supported living environments or residential care. The data extracted from the included studies focused on the methodology, technology, outcomes and the role of people living with dementia within the research. Overall, an extensive variety of technical interventions were found, with a broad range of methodological heterogeneity to explore their effect. Additionally, wide-spanning outcomes to support the potential of technology solutions and the challenges presented by such intervention were found.

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Health and long-term care of the elderly with dementia in rural Thailand: a cross-sectional survey through their caregivers

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032637 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. e032637

Author(s):

Nalinee N Chuakhamfoo ◽

Pudtan Phanthunane ◽

Sirintorn Chansirikarn ◽

Supasit Pannarunothai

Keyword(s):

Long Term Care ◽

Informal Caregivers ◽

The Elderly ◽

Dementia Care ◽

Secondary Outcome ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Term Care ◽

Dementia Severity ◽

People With Dementia

ObjectiveTo describe the circumstances of the elderly with dementia and their caregivers’ characteristics in order to examine factors related to activities of daily living (ADL) and household income to propose a long-term care policy for rural areas of Thailand.SettingA cross-sectional study at the household level in three rural regions of Thailand where there were initiatives relating to community care for people with dementia.ParticipantsCaregivers of 140 people with dementia were recruited for the study.Primary and secondary outcome measuresSocioeconomic characteristics including data from assessment of ADL and instrumental ADL and the Thai version of Resource Utilisation in Dementia were collected. Descriptive statistics were used to explain the characteristics of the elderly with dementia and the caregivers while inferential statistics were used to examine the associations between different factors of elderly patients with dementia with their dependency level and household socioeconomic status.ResultsEighty-six per cent of the dementia caregivers were household informal caregivers as half of them also had to work outside the home. Half of the primary caregivers had no support and no minor caregivers. The elderly with dementia with high dependency levels were found to have a significant association with age, dementia severity, chance of hospitalisation and number of hospitalisations. Though most of these rural samples had low household incomes, the patients in the lower-income households had significantly lower dementia severity, but, with the health benefit coverage had significantly higher chances of hospitalisation.ConclusionAs the informal caregivers are the principal human resources for dementia care and services in rural area, policymakers should consider informal care for the Thai elderly with dementia and promote it as the dominant pattern of dementia care in Thailand.

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