The effect of COVID-19 on the home behaviours of people affected by dementia

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the behaviour of most of the world’s population, particularly affecting the elderly, including people living with dementia (PLwD). Here we use remote home monitoring technology deployed into 31 homes of PLwD living in the UK to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on behaviour within the home, including social isolation. The home activity was monitored continuously using unobtrusive sensors for 498 days from 1 December 2019 to 12 April 2021. This period included six distinct pandemic phases with differing public health measures, including three periods of home ‘lockdown’. Linear mixed-effects modelling is used to examine changes in the home activity of PLwD who lived alone or with others. An algorithm is developed to quantify time spent outside the home. Increased home activity is observed from very early in the pandemic, with a significant decrease in the time spent outside produced by the first lockdown. The study demonstrates the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on home behaviours in PLwD and shows how unobtrusive home monitoring can be used to track behaviours relevant to social isolation.