Use of Technologies for Supporting Dementia Care

Abstract

Since 2003, the authors of this report have been researching assistive information and communication technology in the everyday lives of elderly people suffering from dementia or higher brain dysfunctions. The original project was part of the “Project on Networked Interaction Therapy for People with Dementia (Sept. 2003 – March 2008)” under the auspices of the Advanced Telecommunication Research Institute (ATR) and Intelligent Robotics Communication Laboratories. During this research, we received in no small way backlash from caregivers, especially professional caregivers, about the usage of information and communications technology and engineering technology in general. We sensed that currently resistance to the use of technology has been decreasing. In this paper, the authors will review the engineering technology that caregivers have been involved with over the past 10-plus years and discuss what caregivers need from engineering researchers in an attempt to help engineers work well with caregivers and other specialists.