Using Technology in Dementia Care

Many new pieces of technology can be beneficial to individuals living with dementia, including both hardware and software. This straightforward guide summarises the current research on this growing topic, and gives practical advice on how available technology can be used to improve the everyday lives of people with dementia.

Looking at a range of available products, such as off-the-shelf computers and smartphones, to dementia specific applications and programs, it also addresses some common obstacles and barriers faced when introducing technology in dementia care. The past twenty years have seen an array of technologies developed to improve the day-to-day lives of people with dementia; this guide shows how they can be effectively used.

Professor Arlene Astell completed her PhD at the University of Warwick on the impact of dementia on speech. Over the past twenty years her work has focused on developing interventions to support people to live as well as possible with dementia. This includes leading multiple national and international projects and supervising many students who have gone on to work with people with dementia. Arlene is currently undertaking a research chair in dementia at the University of Toronto and is a Professor in Neurocognitive Disorders at the University of Reading.