Technology Aids in Dementia Care: Useful Apps and Devices.
The idea of a robot helper at home gives me the creeps. But assistive technology that slides easily into my normal life is so good now that I would be challenged to do without it.
Assistive technology or “tech” is the expression for any device that helps make up for gaps in the capacity to be independent for a person with dementia. It’s a term often used to mean only digital or electronic equipment. To be honest a rubber glove that you use because it helps you to take the lid off jam jar is a kind of “assistive technology”. It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Or electronic. It can be for the benefit of the carer, to make their job easier. Otherwise, it is for the person with dementia, to make them more independent.
An Alexa or similar virtual assistant can control smart devices in the home, acting as a home automation system. To find out what is available and what might be helpful, look on the website of ask Sara at https://asksara.livingmadeeasy.org.uk/selector You will find information that is divided geographically because what is available depends on where you live. The site takes you through a questionnaire about what you need and then suggests the most likely kit. Importantly it provides some information about whether you can get it locally through your own local authority. If you need to buy or rent it, the site gives an idea of how much it costs and where you can get it.
The increase in the range of devices has not been as fast as one might have hoped. Rather than listening to what families and the people with dementia might need to, there is a trend for inventors to invent things and then work out if there is a dementia related market. That’s good, but not good enough. Developers need to listen to carers and people with dementia. A real understanding of the size of the market might make inventors and producers think harder about how they can make money by making life easier for people with dementia. Everyone could win. More money is spent on dementia than cancer, heart disease, and stroke put together. Come on guys!!
The commonest assistive technology that is provided by local authorities is Telecare. A typical example would be an emergency call system that is operated by a pendant worn around the neck. Other technology that they may provide is focused on reducing risk, so this includes full detectors, gas and smoke alarms and devices for shutting off water and gas. The local fire department will come and check alarms for certain people including those who are old and frail or affected by dementia. You can easily buy item locators for keys like Chipolo, reminder alerts on your virtual assistant technology like an Alexa, personal alarms including locator devices or falls alarms like a Buddi.
The technology changes all the time, so look at websites for the latest. Sometimes the local authority will pay so make sure to ask them what they’ve got. You might be surprised at how inexpensive some of it is and it makes a great Christmas present. The sooner you have tech in your own life easier will be when you’re older to get used to it. For example, currently I am carrying a smart phone that my grandmother could not have even dream of, which lets my daughter, and my friends know where I am at all times if I give them permission. If I get dementia, by the time they start to worry about me becoming lost, my family will know that I never leave home without it and so they can relax in a way that we could not with my grandmother. Plan for your own future while you are searching for something to help with someone now. There’s more about this in my books Carers and Caring and Dementia the One Stop Guide.
