Background Although information and communication technologies (ICT) are becoming more common among health care providers, there is little evidence on how ICT can support health care aides. Health care aides, also known as personal care workers, are unlicensed service providers who encompass the second largest workforce, next to nurses, that provide care to older adults in Canada. Objective The purpose of this literature review is to examine the range and extent of barriers and benefits of ICT used by health care workers to manage and coordinate the care-delivery workflow for their clients. Methods We conducted a literature review to examine the range and extent of ICT used by health care aides to manage and coordinate their care delivery, workflow, and activities. We identified 8,958 studies of which 40 were included for descriptive analyses. Results We distinguished the following five different purposes for the use and implementation of ICT by health care aides: (1) improve everyday work, (2) access electronic health records for home care, (3) facilitate client assessment and care planning, (4) enhance communication, and (5) provide care remotely. We identified 128 barriers and 130 benefits related to adopting ICT. Most of the barriers referred to incomplete hardware and software features, time-consuming ICT adoption, heavy or increased workloads, perceived lack of usefulness of ICT, cost or budget restrictions, security and privacy concerns, and lack of integration with technologies. The benefits for health care aides' adoption of ICT were improvements in communication, support to workflows and processes, improvements in resource planning and health care aides' services, and improvements in access to information and documentation. Conclusion Health care aides are an essential part of the health care system. They provide one-on-one care to their clients in everyday tasks. Despite the scarce information related to health care aides, we identified many benefits of ICT adoption.

It is estimated that up to 60% of people living with dementia go missing at least once during the course of their disease. Databases on missing incidents involving people living with dementia are managed in silos with minimal or incomplete data. A national strategy for the collection of data on missing incidents of people living with dementia would optimize time and resources spent on police and search and rescue and enhance chances of saving lives of those who go missing. Such a strategy would be a first step toward developing strategies to prevent future missing person incidents among this population. The objectives of this manuscript are to: (1) describe the issues and challenges related to the lack of integrated data on people living with dementia at risk of going missing, and (2) propose directions to create a national database.

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While it is commonly cited that 60% of persons living with dementia (PLWD) wander, it is unclear whether this number reflects global contexts. Population aging has created a pressing need for the development of programs to mitigate the risks of PLWD from getting lost and going missing. Such programs would require a national strategy for the collection and integration of data on missing incidents involving this population. This study is a first step to inform such a strategy. The purposes were to: 1) identify approaches to data collection on missing persons incidents involving PLWD among Canadian police and search and rescue (SAR) organizations; 2) describe the foreseeable challenges associated with developing a national data collection strategy. We used generic qualitative description to generate data with fifteen key informants. Virtual semi-structured interviews were completed and transcribed verbatim. Content analysis and trustworthiness strategies guided analysis and rigor. Our findings indicate that police and SAR organizations collect a multitude of data pertaining to missing incidents involving PLWD. However, there is a lack of standardization in data collection, entry and analysis. Privacy legislation, limited resources, and incompatible data management systems pose challenges to data sharing and interoperability. Underreporting of missing incidents to police results in an underestimation of missing incidents. An intersectoral, uniform approach to data collection would enable the storage, analysis and comparison of national data. Accurate data on critical wandering can inform prevention, search strategies, resource allocation and effectiveness of programs.

Critical wandering is common in persons living with dementia, it is defined as wandering that results in an individual going missing. This exposes the missing vulnerable older adult to risks and dangers. Persons with dementia who become lost and go missing and get lost can face adverse outcomes, such as injury and death, yet the amount of information available on the risk factors associated with these incidents is scarce. The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors associated with critical wandering in persons living with dementia. We used Tricco et al.’s (2018) approach for scoping reviews and searched the following databases: Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Scopus. We included studies that referred to critical wandering in persons with dementia, cognitive impairment, or Alzheimer, and published since 1980. We identified 3,376 publications, which was reduced to 1641 publications after we removed duplications. A total of 78 studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria for analysis and extraction. A rigorous process to synthesize and categorize the research evidence was followed. We identified four different types of risk factors associated with going missing: (1) personal, (2) physical environment and geographical location, (3) cultural environment, and (4) social environment and support resources. Recognition of these risk factors can help persons living with dementia and their care partners identify interventions and proactive strategies to mitigate or prevent critical wandering. This will support persons with dementia, their care partners, and community organizations to balance safety, autonomy, and independence to maximize quality of life.