Using Mobile Technology to Provide Personalized Reminiscence for People Living With Dementia and Their Carers: Appraisal of Outcomes From a Quasi-Experimental Study

Laird, Liz; Ryan, Assumpta; McCauley, Claire; Bond, Raymond; Mulvenna, Maurice; Curran, Kevin; Bunting, Brendan; Ferry, Finola; Gibson, Aideen

doi:10.2196/mental.9684

Cited by 49 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(68 reference statements)

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“…The traditional version in this study consisted of tangible prompts, including photos and other memorabilia, and the digital version consisted of a movie created and burned onto a DVD for playing on television. iPads have also been used in the delivery of individualized reminiscence therapy with positive results, including improvements in well-being [ 31 , 32 ]. Significantly higher levels of initiating speech and engagement were found using a touchscreen monitor compared with traditional reminiscence therapy using artifacts, including newspapers, books, and photos [ 33 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Virtual Reality to Improve Apathy in Residential Aged Care: Mixed Methods Study

Saredakis

Keage

Corlis³

et al. 2020

J Med Internet Res

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Background Apathy is a common symptom in neurological disorders, including dementia, and is associated with a faster rate of cognitive decline, reduced quality of life, and high caregiver burden. There is a lack of effective pharmacological treatments for apathy, and nonpharmacological interventions are a preferred first-line approach to treatment. Virtual reality (VR) using head-mounted displays (HMDs) is being successfully used in exposure- and distraction-based therapies; however, there is limited research on using HMDs for symptoms of neurological disorders. Objective This feasibility study aimed to assess whether VR using HMDs could be used to deliver tailored reminiscence therapy and examine the willingness to participate, response rates to measures, time taken to create tailored content, and technical problems. In addition, this study aimed to explore the immediate effects between verbal fluency and apathy after exposure to VR. Methods A mixed methods study was conducted in a sample of older adults residing in aged care, and 17 participants were recruited. Apathy was measured using the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES), and verbal fluency was used as a proxy measure of improvements in apathy and debriefing interviews to assess feedback from participants. Side effects that can occur from using HMDs were also measured. Results We recruited participants from a high socioeconomic status setting with a high education level, and the participation rate was 85% (17/20); most responses to measures were positive. Access to a wide range of freely available content and the absence of technical difficulties made the delivery of a VR reminiscence intervention highly feasible. Participants had improved semantic scores (t14=−3.27; P=.006) but not phonemic fluency scores (t14=0.55; P=.59) immediately after the intervention. Those with higher levels of apathy demonstrated the greatest cognitive improvements after a VR reminiscence experience, which was indicated by a strong positive relationship between the AES and semantic verbal fluency change scores postminus pre-VR (r=0.719; 95% CI 0.327 to 0.900; P=.003). All participants enjoyed the experience despite 35% (6/17) of participants experiencing temporary side effects. Conclusions This study provides initial evidence that it is feasible to use VR with HMDs for therapy to treat symptoms of apathy in older adults in residential aged care. However, there is a need to closely monitor the side effects of HMD use in older adults. Further research is needed using an active control group to compare the use of VR with traditional forms of reminiscence therapy.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Virtual Reality to Improve Apathy in Residential Aged Care: Mixed Methods Study

Saredakis

Keage

Corlis³

et al. 2020

J Med Internet Res

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“…Participants living with dementia attained statistically significant increases in mutuality, quality of caregiver and patient relationship, and subjective well-being from the beginning to end of the study [ 16 ]. Additionally, unsupervised machine learning was used to identify behavioral clusters that characterized different user engagement with the InspireD app which were cross compared with qualitative data following interviews after the trial period [ 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Momentary Assessment Within a Digital Health Intervention for Reminiscence in Persons With Dementia and Caregivers: User Engagement Study

Potts¹,

Bond²,

Ryan³

et al. 2020

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth

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Background User-interaction event logs provide rich and large data sets that can provide valuable insights into how people engage with technology. Approaches such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA) can be used to gather accurate real-time data in an individual’s natural environment by asking questions at any given instant. Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate user engagement and responses to EMA questions using InspireD, an app used for reminiscence by persons with dementia and their caregivers. Research findings can be used to inform EMA use within digital health interventions. Methods A feasibility trial was conducted in which participants (n=56) used the InspireD app over a 12-week period. Participants were a mean age of 73 (SD 13) and were either persons with dementia (n=28) or their caregivers (n=28). Questions, which they could either answer or choose to dismiss, were presented to participants at various instants after reminiscence with personal or generic photos, videos, and music. Presentation and dismissal rates for questions were compared by hour of the day and by trial week to investigate user engagement. Results Overall engagement was high, with 69.1% of questions answered when presented. Questions that were presented in the evening had the lowest dismissal rate; the dismissal rate for questions presented at 9 PM was significantly lower than the dismissal rate for questions presented at 11 AM (9 PM: 10%; 11 AM: 50%; χ21=21.4, P<.001). Questions asked following reminiscence with personal media, especially those asked after personal photos, were less likely to be answered compared to those asked after other media. In contrast, questions asked after the user had listened to generic media, in particular those asked after generic music, were much more likely to be answered. Conclusions The main limitation of our study was the lack of generalizability of results to a larger population given the quasi-experimental design and older demographic where half of participants were persons with dementia; however, this study shows that older people are willing to participate and engage in EMA. Based on this study, we propose a series of recommendations for app design to increase user engagement with EMA. These include presenting questions no more than once per day, after 8 PM in the evening, and only if the user is not trying to complete a task within the app.

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“…In addition to reported effects on wellbeing, reminiscence can potentially increase interaction in longterm care (LTC) facilities, ultimately building relationships and increasing connections [17]. When using tablets as a third-party in social interactions, the intuitive design and variety of applications can offer both personalized and generic content in a manner that eases the introduction and maintaining of conversation topics, thus enhancing the social interaction [13][14][15][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Section: Tablet Computersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Utilizing technology as a social facilitator has the potential to increase both the frequency and duration of social interactions [19,22,25,31], and encourage more involvement of caregivers [21,37,44], positively in uencing the relationship between care recipient and carer [13,20,22,23,26,38,42].…”

Section: Facilitating Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Technology-Driven Solutions to Prompt Conversation, Aid Communication and Support Interaction for People With Dementia and Their Caregivers: A Systematic Literature Review

Hoel

Feunou

Wolf‐Ostermann

2020

Preprint

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Background The impact of dementia on communication capabilities can result in difficulties in social interactions and between people with dementia and their conversation partner, as initiating and maintaining conversations becomes increasingly challenging. The role of technology in promoting social health and participation for people with dementia is increasing, but the usage on technological devices as a third party in social interactions to enhance communication quality is still in its infancy. The objective of this literature review is to provide a comprehensive description of technology-driven interventions for people with dementia and their conversation partners to enhance communication and facilitate positive social interactions. Methods A systematic search was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL and PsycINFO, where titles and abstracts were screened by two researchers independently. The reference lists of initially identified papers were hand-searched for further relevant studies. Quality appraisal of the included studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.Results Twenty-six papers were included., where the most common technologies to facilitate communication and interactions were tablet-computers (n=11), social robots (n=7) and PCs (n=4). By analyzing the impacts of the device(s) on social interaction and communication, five major themes emerged: i) increased interaction; ii) better understanding of the person with dementia; iii) improved conversational quality; iv) reducing pressure on the conversation partner; and v) a conversational platform.Conclusion While the majority of the included studies are small-scale, they indicate promising findings on the potential of technology in helping dyads to interact in a way that relieves strain on the caregiver, enhances the relationship and engages people with dementia in social activities. Rigorous investigation using standard, comparable measurements is needed to demonstrate the effects of technological solutions, taking on the perspective on caregiving dyads as an entity rather than looking at outcomes for one member of the dyad in isolation.

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Using Mobile Technology to Provide Personalized Reminiscence for People Living With Dementia and Their Carers: Appraisal of Outcomes From a Quasi-Experimental Study

Cited by 49 publications

References 56 publications

Using Virtual Reality to Improve Apathy in Residential Aged Care: Mixed Methods Study

Using Virtual Reality to Improve Apathy in Residential Aged Care: Mixed Methods Study

Ecological Momentary Assessment Within a Digital Health Intervention for Reminiscence in Persons With Dementia and Caregivers: User Engagement Study

Technology-Driven Solutions to Prompt Conversation, Aid Communication and Support Interaction for People With Dementia and Their Caregivers: A Systematic Literature Review

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