Best Practice Guidance
Human Interaction with Technology in Dementia

Recommendations

3.3

Implementation of technology in dementia care: facilitators & barriers

Successful implementation of technology in dementia care depends not merely on its effectiveness but also on other facilitating or impeding factors related to e.g. the personal living environment (privacy, autonomy and obtrusiveness); the outside world (stigma and human contact); design (personalisability, affordability and safety), and ethics on these subjects.  This section provides recommendations on the implementation of technology in everyday life, for meaningful activities, healthcare technology and technology promoting Social Health.
3.3.6
Social Health Domain 3: Technology to promote social participation
3.3.6.8

Involve residents with dementia and their family members in the implementation of pet robots in long-term care settings

Guidance

Residents with dementia and their family members should be involved when planning to introduce pet robots in long-term care settings and when using pet robots.

Explanation and examples

In a consensus-building exercise involving 56 international experts (care professionals, organisational leaders and researchers), experts established the importance of including residents with dementia and their family in the implementation of pet robots in long-term care facilities. When planning to adopt pet robots in long-term care facilities, the opinions of residents with dementia and their family members must be sought. Examples include

  • Seeking their opinions on which pet robot to purchase by showing them different pet robots, and asking or observing their reactions to each robot
  • Seeking feedback on their preferred ways of using robots, such as whether they prefer the robots to be individualised or shared with other residents.

When using pet robots, residents with dementia and their family members must be supported to be actively involved. For example:

  • Residents may be involved in “taking care” of robots.
  • Family members could provide support or use the robots as topics of conversations during visits.

Themes

Target groups

Type of evidence

Wei Qi Koh (DISTINCT ESR12)
Collaborator: Viktoria Hoel (DISTINCT ESR9)

Qualitative study, modified Delphi study

References

Koh, W.Q., Toomey, E., Flynn, A. & Casey, D. (2022). Determinants of implementing of pet robots in nursing homes for dementia care. BMC Geriatrics, 22(1), 457, 1-12. doi.org/10.1186/s12877-022-03150-z

Koh, W. Q., Casey, D., Hoel, V., & Toomey, E. (2022). Strategies for implementing pet robots in care homes and nursing homes for residents with dementia: protocol for a modified Delphi study. Implementation Science Communications, 3(1), 58, 1-10. doi.org/10.1186/s43058-022-00308-z

Koh, W. Q., Hoel, V., Casey, D., & Toomey, E. (2022). Strategies to Implement Pet Robots in Long-Term Care Facilities for Dementia Care: A Modified Delphi Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2022.09.010

Useful links

https://implementationsciencecomms.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s43058-022-00308-z

https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-022-03150-z

https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(22)00746-0/fulltext