Active Involvement of People with Dementia: A Systematic Review of Studies Developing Supportive Technologies

Abstract

Although there are promising benefits of supportive technology in dementia care, use of these technologies is still limited. It is challenging for researchers and developers in this field to actively involve people with dementia in development. This review updates and builds on existing knowledge by including a contemporary and relevant perspective. This perspective was gained by including search words and search databases from the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Design, as these fields were expected to supply novel insights in the complex task of actively involving people with dementia in developing supportive technologies. A total of 49 out of 3456 studies were included which describe the development of a great variety of technologies. Often people with dementia were involved in the generative or evaluative phase of the development. Interviews and observations were most commonly used methods. In seven articles the people with dementia were co-designers. This literature review reflects that people with dementia can influence the development of technology in regards to content, design, and even the initial idea, although the impact on how they experience their own involvement remains largely unknown. There is a lack of specific knowledge on appropriate methods and materials for active involvement of people with dementia in supportive technology development, even when including articles from the field of HCI and Design. Future research is needed to further appreciate and improve the desired role of people with dementia in meaningful technology development.

Perceived Need and Acceptability of an App to Support Activities of Daily Living in People With Cognitive Impairment and Their Carers: Pilot Survey Study

“…Future studies would benefit from involving people with cognitive impairment in all aspects of assistive technology development. While this population may find technologies acceptable when scaffolded by training and provision of devices, or in the evaluation phase, gauging interest at the outset may be vital to unpacking higher-level needs that increase technology use in this population [ 18 ].…”

Emerging Issues of Intelligent Assistive Technology Use Among People With Dementia and Their Caregivers: A U.S. Perspective

“…Low adoption rates of assistive technology may signal unmet user needs and wishes in product design. Thus, the principles of agile, open, and user centered design is seen as increasingly important when designing for users with cognitive impairment and dementia (17). The diversity and variety of individuals with cognitive impairment makes it challenging for researchers and innovators to engage in meaningful ways in order to ensure that the IAT being designed is sufficiently flexible to serve that changing needs of the users and their caregivers.…”

Peace of mind: A community-industry-academic partnership to adapt dementia technology for Anishinaabe communities on Manitoulin Island

“…From the perspective of an industry partnership, the opportunity to receive direct feedback from Indigenous community members on a prototype and to hear their thoughts and wishes for further product development represents the goal of high quality co-designing of products for dementia care. 28 , 29 …”

“…During this early technology development stage producers and engineers benefit from hearing the reactions end users have of prototypes and the thoughts and wishes for potentially new features or uses, and this is especially important in dementia care technologies. 28,29 Decades of research ethics violations and distrust within Indigenous communities has resulted in a shift to using CBPR and IRM approaches in which all research partners, in this case academics, industry leaders, and Indigenous communities, hold mutual respect and equitable involvement in all phases of research development. Through a university -community -industry partnership, a study was designed based on CBPR approaches, utilizing Indigenous Research Methodologies.…”