Review of ICT-based services for identified unmet needs in people with dementia.

Some of the needs that people with dementia and their informal carers currently perceive as insufficiently met by regular care and support services might be alleviated, or even be met, using modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The study described in this paper was designed to provide an insight into the state of the art in ICT solutions that could contribute to meet the most frequently mentioned unmet needs by people with dementia and their informal carers. These needs can be summarized as (1) the need for general and personalized information; (2) the need for support with regard to symptoms of dementia; (3) the need for social contact and company; and (4) the need for health monitoring and perceived safety. Databases that were searched include: PubMed, Cinahl, Psychinfo, Google (Scholar), INSPEC and IEEE. In total 22 websites and 46 publications were included that satisfied the following criteria: the article reports on people with dementia and/or their informal carers and discusses an ICT-device that has been tested within the target group and has proven to be helpful. Within the first need area 18 relevant websites and three studies were included; within the second need area 4 websites and 20 publications were included. Within the third and fourth need area 11 and 12 publications were included respectively. Most articles reported on uncontrolled studies. It is concluded that the informational websites offer helpful information for carers but seem less attuned to the person with dementia and do not offer personalized information. ICT solutions aimed at compensating for disabilities, such as memory problems and daily activities demonstrate that people with mild to moderate dementia are capable of handling simple electronic equipment and can benefit from it in terms of more confidence and enhanced positive effect. Instrumental ICT-support for coping with behavioral and psychological changes in dementia is relatively disregarded as yet, while support for social contact can be effectively realized through, for example, simplified (mobile) phones or videophones or (entertainment) robots. GPS technology and monitoring systems are proven to result in enhanced feelings of safety and less fear and anxiety. Though these results are promising, more controlled studies in which the developed ICT solutions are tested in real life situations are needed before implementing them in the care for people with dementia. It is recommended that future studies also focus on the integration of the current techniques and solutions.

COGKNOW development and evaluation of an ICT-device for people with mild dementia.

Dementia is a progressive, chronic disease affecting 5% of all persons above 65 and over 40% of people over 90. The aim of the COGKNOW project is to achieve a breakthrough with research that addresses the needs of those with dementia, particularly those with mild dementia living in the community. This entails cognitive reinforcement in four main areas: helping people to remember, helping to maintain social contact, helping with performing daily life and recreational activities and finally enhance feelings of safety. Based on a sound foundation of needs reported in dementia literature, workshops and individual interviews have been carried out with dementia sufferers and their carers in three European countries. A ranked analysis of information from workshops and interviews, and the state of the art of successful ICT solutions will be the basis for formulating the functionalities of the technical solution and for the development of a cognitive prosthetic device with associated services for people with mild dementia. The research and evaluation will be conducted from human factors, technology, and business perspectives in three phases of one year each. In this paper we discuss the design of the COGKNOW project, the first results of the user needs inquiry workshops and the ICT solutions the COGKNOW project will focus on in the first year.

A Dynamic Interactive Social Chart in Dementia CareAttuning Demand and Supply in the Care for Persons with Dementia and their Carers.

We-centric services may play an important role in the field of care and support for elderly persons with dementia and their carers. They may solve problems, such as fragmentation of care, gaps in the continuum of care and welfare services, and inefficient and uncustomized service delivery to patients and carers. In the FRUX Health Care pilot opportunities for we-centric, context-sensitive service bundles in the field of dementia care will be explored. The service on which we focus in this paper is a dynamic interactive social chart for dementia care (DEM-DISC). The feasibility of DEM-DISC will be investigated from a domain specific content perspective (needs, offerings, information and advice), an ICT perspective (ontology and application), a user perspective (persons with dementia, their carers and professionals/organizations), and an organisational perspective (necessary collaboration, governance and control, business modelling). A first demonstrator (validator) of the DEM-DISC will be designed, built and evaluated. Future possibilities to connect DEM-DISC to actual service delivery will be explored. In this paper we discuss the most important research questions from the different perspectives and the methods used to answer them.