Life at Home and Technology with Dementia

Abstract

First paragraph: Enabling people with dementia to live independently in their own homes is a key objective of contemporary dementia care policy and practice. Frequently referred to as ‘ageing in place’, current health care policy across many western countries focuses upon ensuring people with dementia can stay at home as their dementia progresses, thereby delaying, reducing or avoiding the use of state services such as residential or nursing care (Brittain et al 2010; Kenner 2008; Roberts et al 2012; Buffel et al 2012). Such policy objectives typically have the support of older people themselves, with the majority routinely stating that they would prefer to remain at home for as long as possible (Oldman 2003; Lui et al, 2009). In order to support this objective, assistive technologies have been posited as a means to support people with dementia to remain at home (Sixsmith & Sixsmith 2008). Products defined as assistive technology can include a whole range of mobility aids and household adaptations, however in the context of people living with dementia, the term assistive technology is most often associated with electronic devices or services which can monitor a person’s activities, or products that can assist a person with daily functions (Gibson et al 2016).