Adoption of Wearable Devices by Persons with Dementia: Lessons from a Non-pharmacological Intervention Enabled by a Social Robot

ABSTRACT

Wearable technology is increasingly being used in healthcare research. Studies involving older adults using these devices are also increasing, but very few have been reported with persons with dementia (PwDs). This is understandable, since there are many barriers for the adoption of this technology by PwDs. Yet, monitoring PwDs activities and behaviors is essential for tracking disease progression and assessing the efficacy of interventions and for safety reasons. This is particularly relevant in nursing homes that are facing severe challenges with the current health crisis due to COVID-19, as one of the means to deal with this is by remote monitoring and tracking, and in general instrumenting them as Ambient Assisted Living spaces. We report on a study in which we conducted a non-pharmacological intervention guided by a social robot in a nursing home with the participation of ten PwDs and six caregivers. The cognitive stimulation therapy lasted for nine weeks, in which participants used a wearable device throughout the day. The data gathered from the devices were useful in obtaining a better understanding of how behaviors changed during the intervention. In particular, we report on the adoption of the wearables by PwDs, the efficacy of the strategies we implemented, and lessons learned. We finish the chapter with recommendations for the adoption of wearable devices for activity monitoring in studies involving people with dementia. © 2021, The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.