Technology for dementia care: what would good technology look like and do, from carers’ perspectives?

Abstract

Background The development of technology in dementia care has largely been without consultation with carers, and has primarily focused on safety, monitoring devices, and supporting activities of daily living. Further, while involving end-users in the design of technology has been recommended, this is yet to become common practice. Method We conducted a mixed methods study with the aim of investigating carers’ values and priorities for technology development, including prior experiences, barriers to use, and what they would like technology to do. Importantly, we asked carers for their design ideas and bespoke technology solutions for future development. Results Carers of people living with dementia (N = 127), including both unpaid (n = 102) and paid carers (n = 25) residing in Australia, completed an online survey. In addition, a subsample of carers (n = 23) participated in semi-structured interviews. Findings demonstrate that carers want technology to be person-centred, customisable, and to increase opportunities for meaningful social connection. Findings also demonstrate the ability of carers to generate creative design solutions for dementia care. Conclusions These findings and implications will be discussed in relation to the importance of co-design with carers and engineers during the design phase of assistive technology. Also, the importance of technology to enhance, not replace, human-to-human social interactions is highlighted.

Stakeholder needs assessment for developing ageing in place solutions – a qualitative study

“…To the well-known areas of mobility, information and communication technology, biotechnology and ambient intelligence [ 50 ], the study at hand adds organizational and administrative tasks. In line with recommendations that technologies should complement face-to-face contact, not replace it [ 31 ], the stakeholder needs assessment points to a demand for information transfer and communication on ageing in place that could be met by technology. With older adults preferring counselling services and personal contacts to guide them through the system (e.g.…”

“…In accordance to existing studies calling for problem-related solutions to be more effective in the long term [ 54 , 55 ], the stakeholders recommend supporting informal caregivers with help services and respite, and identifying which tasks can be performed by non-healthcare workers or solved by technological solutions. According to previous studies, technology can support the creation of meaningful social relationships [ 31 ], and is also desirable in professional care settings.…”

“…In summary, the stakeholders’ training with and knowledge of AAL technologies are critical factors for adoption decisions and successful implementation [ 27 ]. Given the influence of informal caregivers and healthcare professionals on the acceptance of AAL technologies and as potential primary users, studies suggest that the perspectives of both informal and formal caregivers should be considered [ 18 , 31 ]. Consequently, the identification of stakeholders’ needs is a prerequisite for developing user-friendly and easy-to-implement AAL solutions [ 27 ].…”

Unpaid carers of people with dementia and information communication technology: Use, impact and ideas for the future

“…Participants’ tendency to gravitate towards mainstream ICT confirms earlier studies, which reported that the multifunctionality and practicality of smartphones, tablet computers and videoconferencing applications enabled carers to balance their personal needs with those related to the person they care for ( Caprioli et al, 2023 ; Spann et al, 2022 ; Sriram et al, 2021 ). Also observed, was how unpaid carers turned to an array of improvised mainstream ICT solutions because they were mostly unaware of accessible and formal alternatives ( Brookman et al, 2023 ; Gibson et al, 2019 ; Sriram et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Knapp et al (2015) and Sriram et al (2021) found that unpaid carers predominantly used household ICT devices such as telephones, televisions, MP3 players, and services including home Internet and online applications for monitoring, care coordination, reminiscence, entertainment and communication functions. Brookman et al (2023) surveyed unpaid carers’ use of GPS-enabled smartwatches, smartphones and digital picture frames for monitoring, reminder and reminiscence functions to support the care they provide. Gibson et al (2015) noted a trend amongst unpaid carers for linking GPS and camera devices to a tablet computer or a smartphone via WiFi Internet to monitor, supervise, and support the person they cared for.…”