Mobile Phones and/or Smartphones and Their Use in the Management of Dementia – Findings from the Research Studies

Abstract

At present, there is a significant increase in the number of older population groups worldwide. This accelerating trend in the rise of older population groups inevitably results in serious economic and social changes accompanied with a number of aging diseases such as dementia. The purpose of this review study is to explore the use of mobile phones and/ or smartphones and their benefits and limitations for patients with dementia. The methods include a literature review of available studies on this topic found in Web of Science, Science Direct, and MEDLINE, and a method of comparison and evaluation of their findings. The results of this article show that the use of mobile phones and/ or smartphones by patients with dementia can provide support for the activities of daily life. In addition, they can reduce both mental and economic burden of their caregivers and help doctors in their assessments and diagnoses. Nevertheless, more original research studies, especially in the area of the effectiveness of their use should be conducted. The same is true for sustainable support in the use of mobile phones by patients with dementia.

A Systematic Review of Smartphone and Tablet Use by Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment

“…Case studies have shown that training people with dementia in the use of smartphones and tablet computers can be beneficial in maintaining activities of daily living (ADL; Bier et al, 2015 , 2018 ; Imbeault et al, 2018 ). However, a 2017 review found that few studies have investigated the use of smartphones by people with dementia ( Klimova, 2017 ). Furthermore, the studies included in this review discussed the use of specific apps and tracking systems developed by research teams as opposed to the day-to-day use of smartphones by people living with dementia.…”

“…It is thought that the use of mobile technologies to offer cognitive support could generalize to assist not only people living with dementia but also people experiencing similar cognitive limitations due to illnesses or disabilities such as stroke, mental illness, brain injury, and physical or sensory disability ( Koo & Vizer, 2019 ). Although predominantly focused on dementia and MCI, due to the paucity of literature on this topic reported in the studies of Kim and Lee (2017) and Klimova (2017) , the parameters of this review were expanded to include the use of smartphones and tablet devices by not only people with dementia and MCI but also older adults with cognitive impairment due to ABI. This review is interested in acquired cognitive impairment as opposed to the chronic cognitive impairment that may be experienced by people living with mental illness, physical or sensory disabilities.…”