Working with assistive technologies and people living with dementia

Abstract

Assistive technologies (AT) are currently put forward as one of the solutions to the growing prevalence of dementia and crises of care emerging in major western economies. However both design philosophies for technology in dementia, and policy discourses for technology implementation have excluded people with dementia. This exclusion has meant that technology research has not yet adequately explored how people with dementia use technology in everyday practice, and the spatial, social and technical arrangements in which technologies are used. In this chapter we explore how technology use among people with dementia is conceptualised, before discussing some of the issues which influence how people with dementia use technologies. We argue that a more nuanced understanding of technologies is gained through exploring the social and technical arrangements in which they are used. Drawing on the notion of an ethics in practice, we also explore how people living with dementia negotiate the dilemmas arising from the everyday use of technology. Finally, the chapter discusses alternative methodologies for investigating technology use in dementia based on co-creation and co-production, alongside some of the practical issues arising when conducting research in relation to technology and its role in dementia care.