Technology aimed at older adults with dementia has changed their ability to continue to socialize and maintain good daily activities, according to a new meta-analysis.
A recent review analyzed the existing literature on 'digital assistive technologies' designed to support the growing number of older people with dementia. This technology is a broad category that includes everything from smartphone apps to robots.
Dementia Support as the population with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer's disease, is growing at a much faster pace than aged care providers, who are facing industry-wide staffing shortages, can cope with the problem. The need for additional resources to do so has become critical.
Many elderly care areas, where specialized care is lacking, are seeing an increasing number of residents with Alzheimer's disease. mac knights It was reported last year. In January, the Alzheimer's Association called on the federal government to intervene to support the development of human resources for living support and dementia care.
According to LeadingAge's DAT review summary, the main categories where such technology can be useful are:
- Protecting autonomy and dignity
- Improving activities of daily living
- Promote social interaction
- monitor their health
According to the researchers, one of the primary goals of the meta-review is to identify what gaps exist in the research on specific categories of technology and what future research should focus on. It was something to do.
Of the studies evaluated in the report, the vast majority focused on patient monitoring and digital therapeutics, which the study authors defined as “generating and delivering medical interventions to treat or alleviate specific diseases or conditions.” defined as “health software designed to
Although the studies reviewed appear to overwhelmingly demonstrate the effectiveness of assistive technology tools and their ability to support older adults with dementia, a few reports suggest that some older adults may be reluctant to respond to technology. They have been shown to exhibit anxiety and aggression, but the study authors did not specify what caused these. negative results.
Instead, the researchers suggested that future research should narrow down the causes of such outlier responses and focus on the growing role of artificial intelligence.
“Future research in the context of advances in voice assistants and large-scale language models will be important,” the study authors concluded. “It makes it easier to develop more intuitive and natural interfaces without requiring a high degree of dexterity.”
This study was recently published in the journal BMJ.
