Publications
6 results found
David MCB, Kolanko M, Del Giovane M, et al., 2023, Remote monitoring of physiology in people living with dementia: an observational cohort study, JMIR Aging, Vol: 6, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 2561-7605
BACKGROUND: Internet of Things (IoT) technology enables physiological measurements to be recorded at home from people living with dementia and monitored remotely. However, measurements from people with dementia in this context have not been previously studied. We report on the distribution of physiological measurements from 82 people with dementia over approximately 2 years. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to characterize the physiology of people with dementia when measured in the context of their own homes. We also wanted to explore the possible use of an alerts-based system for detecting health deterioration and discuss the potential applications and limitations of this kind of system. METHODS: We performed a longitudinal community-based cohort study of people with dementia using "Minder," our IoT remote monitoring platform. All people with dementia received a blood pressure machine for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, a pulse oximeter measuring oxygen saturation and heart rate, body weight scales, and a thermometer, and were asked to use each device once a day at any time. Timings, distributions, and abnormalities in measurements were examined, including the rate of significant abnormalities ("alerts") defined by various standardized criteria. We used our own study criteria for alerts and compared them with the National Early Warning Score 2 criteria. RESULTS: A total of 82 people with dementia, with a mean age of 80.4 (SD 7.8) years, recorded 147,203 measurements over 958,000 participant-hours. The median percentage of days when any participant took any measurements (ie, any device) was 56.2% (IQR 33.2%-83.7%, range 2.3%-100%). Reassuringly, engagement of people with dementia with the system did not wane with time, reflected in there being no change in the weekly number of measurements with respect to time (1-sample t-test on slopes of linear fit, P=.45). A total of 45% of people with dementia met criteria for hypertension. People with dem
Seah CEL, Zhang Z, Sun S, et al., 2022, Designing mindfulness conversational agents for people with early-stage dementia and their caregivers: thematic analysis of expert and user perspectives, JMIR Aging, Vol: 5, Pages: e40360-e40360, ISSN: 2561-7605
BACKGROUND: The number of people with dementia is expected to grow worldwide. Among the ways to support both persons with early-stage dementia and their caregivers (dyads), researchers are studying mindfulness interventions. However, few studies have explored technology-enhanced mindfulness interventions for dyads and the needs of persons with dementia and their caregivers. OBJECTIVE: The main aim of this study was to elicit essential needs from people with dementia, their caregivers, dementia experts, and mindfulness experts to identify themes that can be used in the design of mindfulness conversational agents for dyads. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 5 dementia experts, 5 mindfulness experts, 5 people with early-stage dementia, and 5 dementia caregivers. Interviews were transcribed and coded on NVivo (QSR International) before themes were identified through a bottom-up inductive approach. RESULTS: The results revealed that dyadic mindfulness is preferred and that implementation formats such as conversational agents have potential. A total of 5 common themes were also identified from expert and user feedback, which should be used to design mindfulness conversational agents for persons with dementia and their caregivers. The 5 themes included enhancing accessibility, cultivating positivity, providing simplified tangible and thought-based activities, encouraging a mindful mindset shift, and enhancing relationships. CONCLUSIONS: In essence, this research concluded with 5 themes that mindfulness conversational agents could be designed based on to meet the needs of persons with dementia and their caregivers.
Serban A-I, Soreq E, Barnaghi P, et al., 2022, The effect of COVID-19 on the home behaviours of people affected by dementia, npj Digital Medicine, Vol: 5, ISSN: 2398-6352
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the behaviour of most of the world’s population, particularly affecting the elderly, including people living with dementia (PLwD). Here we use remote home monitoring technology deployed into 31 homes of PLwD living in the UK to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on behaviour within the home, including social isolation. The home activity was monitored continuously using unobtrusive sensors for 498 days from 1 December 2019 to 12 April 2021. This period included six distinct pandemic phases with differing public health measures, including three periods of home ‘lockdown’. Linear mixed-effects modelling is used to examine changes in the home activity of PLwD who lived alone or with others. An algorithm is developed to quantify time spent outside the home. Increased home activity is observed from very early in the pandemic, with a significant decrease in the time spent outside produced by the first lockdown. The study demonstrates the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on home behaviours in PLwD and shows how unobtrusive home monitoring can be used to track behaviours relevant to social isolation.
Wairagkar M, De Lima MR, Harrison M, et al., 2021, Conversational artificial intelligence and affective social robot for monitoring health and well-being of people with dementia., Alzheimers & Dementia, Vol: 17 Suppl 11, Pages: e053276-e053276, ISSN: 1552-5260
BACKGROUND: Social robots are anthropomorphised platforms developed to interact with humans, using natural language, offering an accessible and intuitive interface suited to diverse cognitive abilities. Social robots can be used to support people with dementia (PwD) and carers in their homes managing medication, hydration, appointments, and evaluating mood, wellbeing, and potentially cognitive decline. Such robots have potential to reduce care burden and prolong independent living, yet translation into PwD use remains insignificant. METHOD: We have developed two social robots - a conversational robot and a digital social robot for mobile devices capable of communicating through natural language (powered by Amazon Alexa) and facial expressions that ask PwD daily questions about their health and wellbeing and also provide digital assistant functionality. We record data comprising of PwD's responses to daily questions, audio speech and text of conversations with Alexa to automatically monitor their health and wellbeing using machine learning. We followed user-centric development processes by conducting focus groups with 13 carers, 2 PwD and 5 clinicians to iterate the design. We are testing social robot with 3 PwD in their homes for ten weeks. RESULT: We received positive feedback on social robot from focus group participants. Ease of use, low maintenance, accessibility, assistance with medication, supporting with health and wellbeing were identified as the key opportunities for social robots. Based on responses to a daily questionnaire, our robots generate a report detailing PwD wellbeing that is automatically sent via email to family members or carers. This information is also stored systematically in a database that can help clinicians monitor their patients remotely. We use natural language processing to analyse conversations and identify topics of interest to PwD such that robot behaviour could be adapted. We process speech using signal processing and machine lear
Tiersen F, Batey P, Harrison MJC, et al., 2021, Smart home sensing and monitoring in households with dementia: user-centered design approach, JMIR Aging, Vol: 4, Pages: 1-20, ISSN: 2561-7605
Background:As life expectancy grows, so do the challenges of caring for an ageing population. Older adults, including people with dementia, want to live independently and feel in control of their lives for as long as possible. Assistive technologies powered by Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things devices are being proposed to provide living environments that support the users’ safety, psychological, and medical needs through remote monitoring and interventions.Objective:This study investigates the functional, psychosocial, and environmental needs of people living with dementia, their caregivers, clinicians, and health and social care service providers towards the design and implementation of smart home systems.Methods:We used an iterative user-centered design approach comprising nine sub-studies. First, semi-structured interviews (N = 9 people with dementia, 9 caregivers, 10 academic and clinical staff), ethnographic observations in clinics (N = 10 people with dementia, 10 caregivers, 3 clinical monitoring team members), and workshops (N = 35 pairs of people with dementia and caregivers, 12 health and social care clinicians) were conducted to define the needs of people with dementia, home caregivers and professional stakeholders in both daily activities and technology-specific interactions. Then, the spectrum of needs identified was represented via patient-caregiver personas and discussed with stakeholders in a workshop (N = 14 occupational therapists, 4 National Health Service pathway directors, 6 researchers in occupational therapy, neuropsychiatry and engineering) and two focus groups with managers of healthcare services (N = 8), eliciting opportunities for innovative care technologies and public health strategies. Finally, these opportunities were discussed in semi-structured interviews with participants of a smart home trial involving environmental sensors, physiological measurement devices, smart watches, and tablet-based chatbots and cognitive
Tiersen F, Batey P, Harrison MJC, et al., Smart Home Sensing and Monitoring in Households With Dementia: User-Centered Design Approach (Preprint), Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
<sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> <p>As life expectancy grows, so do the challenges of caring for an aging population. Older adults, including people with dementia, want to live independently and feel in control of their lives for as long as possible. Assistive technologies powered by artificial intelligence and internet of things devices are being proposed to provide living environments that support the users’ safety, psychological, and medical needs through remote monitoring and interventions.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> <p>This study investigates the functional, psychosocial, and environmental needs of people living with dementia, their caregivers, clinicians, and health and social care service providers toward the design and implementation of smart home systems.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</title> <p>We used an iterative user-centered design approach comprising 9 substudies. First, semistructured interviews (9 people with dementia, 9 caregivers, and 10 academic and clinical staff) and workshops (35 pairs of people with dementia and caregivers, and 12 health and social care clinicians) were conducted to define the needs of people with dementia, home caregivers, and professional stakeholders in both daily activities and technology-specific interactions. Then, the spectrum of needs identified was represented via patient–caregiver personas and discussed with stakeholders in a workshop (14 occupational therapists; 4 National Health Service pathway directors; and 6 researchers in occupational therapy, neuropsychiatry, and engineering) and 2 focus groups with managers of health care services (n=8), eliciting opportunities for innovat
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