Use of touch screen tablets to support social connections and reduce responsive behaviours among people with dementia in care settings: a scoping review protocol

Abstract

IntroductionThe disabilities associated with dementia make the adjustment to staying in a care setting stressful. Separation from family can exacerbate the effects of stress. The use of touch screen tablets such as an iPad may offer potential to support the person with dementia staying in a care setting. Although electronic devices are used among people with dementia for a variety of purposes, a comprehensive review of studies focusing on their impact in care settings for social connection and patient/resident behaviour is lacking. This scoping review will focus on the use of touch screen tablets to support social connections and reducing responsive behaviours of people with dementia while in a care setting, such as a hospital ward.Methods and analysisThis scoping review will follow Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology. The review team consists of two patient partners and three family partners, a nurse researcher, a research assistant and an academic professor. All authors including patient and family partners were involved in preparing this scoping review protocol. In the scoping review, we will search the following databases: MEDLINE, AgeLine, Cochrane, CINAHL, PsycINFO and IEEE. Google and Google Scholar will be used to search for additional literature. A hand search will be conducted using the reference lists of included studies to identify additional relevant articles. Included studies must report on the impact of using a touch screen technology intervention that involves older adults with dementia in care settings, published in English since 2009.Ethics and disseminationThis review study does not require ethics approval. By examining the current state of using touch screen tablets to support older people with dementia in care settings, this scoping review can offer useful insight into users’ needs (eg, patients’ and care providers’ needs) and inform future research and practice. We will share the scoping review results through conference presentations and an open access publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Online gallery facilitated art activities for people with dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: A narrative review

“…We identified 11 articles providing insights on how everyday technologies could provide a medium for engaging in gallery-based art activities during a pandemic (Boag et al, 2022; Bradbury et al, 2021; Evans et al, 2015; Hung et al, 2018, 2019, 2021; Joddrell & Smith, 2019; MacRitchie et al, 2022; Stewart et al, 2022; Sweeney et al, 2021; Tyack & Camic, 2017; Tyack et al, 2017). Jodderell and Smith (2019) provide an overview of the importance of enabling people with dementia to continue engaging in social and leisure activities and how technology may be incorporated into people’s lives.…”

“…One of the potential advantages of being able to deliver art interventions online is that participants are not required to attend the gallery in-person, thus extending the reach of such programs to people with dementia who may have mobility or transport access issues or be living in residential aged care or even hospital settings (Hung et al, 2018, 2019, 2021; Stewart et al, 2022). A recent review by Sweeney et al (2021) on the use of everyday technologies to enhance wellbeing and enjoyment for people living with dementia, found that having a carer able to offer an appropriate level of assistance to the person with dementia to use technology was associated with increased engagement with technology and that shared experiences of using technology with other people with dementia in a group setting helped increase laughter, conversation and enjoyment.…”

“…The findings of fifteen articles were relevant to how digital technology may mitigate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions (Bacsu et al, 2021;Boots et al, 2014;Brandão et al, 2022;Chu et al, 2021;Cuffaro et al, 2020;Curelaru et al, 2021;Heins et al, 2021;Howard et al, 2021;Hung et al, 2018Hung et al, , 2019Hung et al, , 2021O'Rourke et al, 2021;Quail et al, 2021;Tuijt et al, 2021;Salva et al, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has and continues to seriously impact the morbidity and mortality of people with dementia (Bacsu et al, 2021).…”

Smart Nursing Homes: Self‐Management Architecture Based on IoT and Machine Learning for Rural Areas

“…Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing smartwatch-based communication system for nursing homes [23], which improve communication between residents and caregivers, thus reducing staff response time and improving residents' safety; or an experimental smart diaper [24] as an indicator of saturation for diaper change in people with dementia living in nursing homes. On the other hand, there are rehabilitation assistance projects, such as a new electroinformatics assistive medical system [25] used for the communication with neuromotor disabled patients, which allows bidirectional communication through using an interface with a software application by using different types of sensors including switch-type sensors or eye tracking devices; a system for monitoring and rehabilitation services for elderly [26], based on mobile and wearable technologies ready to be used in residential long-term care facilities to reduce the risk of depression and social isolation; a telecare and telerehabilitation system using computer vision techniques [27]; or a software application for tablet device [3] to support social connections and reducing responsive behaviours of people with dementia while in a care setting, such as nursing homes. The use of touch screen tablets, such as an iPad, may offer the possibility of helping people in rehabilitation with dementia to remain in a care setting.…”

“…These improvements affect the quality of life of the elderly and the costs of nursing homes [2]. During the last few years, they are making use of technologies [3][4][5], to make life easier for their residents and help healthcare professionals to monitor their health and daily activities.…”