Assistive Technologies for Dementia: Measuring Interactions with Novel Devices for Dementia

Over 80% of older people with dementia living in nursing homes express challenging behaviors like aggression. Educating caregivers on effective communication with persons with dementia has been shown to alleviate challenging behaviors and thus contribute to quality of life.

This SPREAD+ project aims to enhance the quality of life for persons with dementia patients by designing technology that objectifies interactions between them and their caregiver. Within this newly established public-private partnership between UMCG, Hanzehogeschool, Valtes, 2M-Engineering and Radboud UMC insights on social interactions will be provided to caregivers. This potentially improves both the quality of care and overall well-being of people with dementia.  

Video feedback methods are used occasionally for training caregivers, but they are often supplemented with other observation techniques due to practicality concerns. To provide a solution to especially its time-consuming nature and the need for specialized expertise, sensor technology could automate interaction quality assessments, complementing existing training approaches for caregivers.