Article of the month June 2019
The website committee selected the publication by Astell et al. for publication of the month June.
In this article “Technology and Dementia: The Future is now” a nice overview is given of current technology use in dementia, based on the input from members of the US Alzheimer’s Association Technology Professional Interest Area. Many developments have taken place, however policy and practice lay behind. The authors suggest to broaden the view of supporting people with dementia beyond health care and call upon for policies that provide people with dementia and their caregivers access to devices, services and other tools to live as well as possible with their condition.
The abstract:
Background: Technology has multiple potential applications to dementia from diagnosis and assessment to care delivery and supporting ageing in place. Objectives: To summarise key areas of technology development in dementia and identify future directions and implications. Method:Members of the US Alzheimer’s Association Technology Professional Interest Area involved in delivering the annual pre-conference summarised existing knowledge on current and future technology developments in dementia. Results: The main domains of technology development are as follows: (i) diagnosis, assessment and monitoring, (ii) maintenance of functioning, (iii) leisure and activity, (iv) caregiving and management. Conclusions: The pace of technology development requires urgent policy, funding and practice change, away from a narrow medical approach, to a holistic model that facilitates future risk reduction and prevention strategies, enables earlier detection and supports implementation at scale for a meaningful and fulfilling life with dementia.
Reference:
Astell AJ, Bouranis N, Hoey J, Lindauer A, Mihailidis A, Nugent C, Robillard JM; Technology and Dementia: The Future is Now. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2019;47(3):131-139. doi: 10.1159/000497800. Epub 2019 Jun 27. PubMed PMID: 31247624.