Identifying Components of a Person-Centered Augmentative and Alternative Communication Intervention for People With Dementia: Opinions of an International Expert Panel.

PURPOSE: Despite general agreement on the importance of person-centered care in speech-language pathology, guidelines for developing person-centered interventions for those with dementia are limited. This study aimed to obtain expert opinion on the components of a person-centered augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention for persons with dementia. METHOD: A modified electronic Delphi technique was employed in a single round. A purposively sampled panel of experts was invited to provide their opinion on three open-ended questions related to (a) the elements of person-centered care, (b) communication supports, and (c) the interaction outcomes of a person-centered intervention. Thirty-one experts from nine countries participated on the panel. The majority were speech-language pathologists primarily involved in research. Qualitative written data were coded and analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: Nine components were identified across the three open-ended questions: (a) the unique characteristics of the person with dementia, (b) working with a person with dementia, (c) preserving personhood, (d) a different view on person-centered care, (e) a range of communication supports, (f) supportive conversational partners, (g) designing communication supports, (h) interaction outcome measure, and (i) meaningful interaction outcomes. CONCLUSION: This study identified nine components that are useful in guiding speech-language pathologists in crafting future person-centered AAC interventions for people with dementia.

Intelligent assistive technology devices for persons with dementia: A scoping review.

Assistive technology (AT) with context-aware computing and artificial intelligence capabilities can be applied to address cognitive and communication impairments experienced by persons with dementia (PwD). This paper aims to provide an overview of current literature regarding some characteristics of intelligent assistive technology devices (IATDs) for cognitive and communicative impairments of PwD. It also aims to identify the areas of impairment addressed by these IATDs.A multi-faceted systematic search strategy yielded records. Predefined criteria were applied for inclusion and data extraction. Thereafter data was thematically analysed and synthesised. This review demonstrates that almost all of the research involving IATDs has focused on cognitive impairments of PwD and has not yet evolved past the conceptual or prototype stages of development. Summaries of commercially available IATDs for PwD and relevant prototypes are provided at the end of this review.This research concluded that IATDs for PwD targeting cognition and communication problems primarily focus on social robots, and that they address cognitive impairments of attention, affect, and social-pragmatic communicative impairments. Future research endeavours concerning AT for PwD should explore collaboration between computer engineering and health practitioners to address the identified gaps. This may contribute to the available information for evidence-based decision making for PwD.