Supporting People With Dementia Using Pervasive Health Technologies

Information and communication technologies can provide new paradigms in healthcare provision. In particular, new Pervasive Healthcare technologies can revolutionise the dynamics of healthcare, enabling people to remain at home for longer, at lower costs to health and welfare organisations. This book reveals how pervasive healthcare technologies can be designed in conjunction with users and carers, as well as exploring the application of novel methods and technologies.

Information and communication technologies can provide new paradigms in healthcare provision. In particular, new Pervasive Healthcare technologies can revolutionise the dynamics of healthcare, enabling people to remain at home for longer, at lower costs to health and welfare organisations. This book reveals how pervasive healthcare technologies can be designed in conjunction with users and carers, as well as exploring the application of novel methods and technologies.

The financial burden and the level of specialized care required to look after older adults with dementia has reached the point of a public health crisis. Older adults diagnosed and living with the disorder reached 35.6 million worldwide in 2010 and is expected to increase to 135.5 million in 2050, with costs soaring to $1.1 trillion. In the face of the increasing burden this disorder poses to health care systems and the management of this patient population, intelligent assistive technologies (IATs) represent a remarkable and promising strategy to meet the need of persons suffering from dementia. These technologies aim at helping individuals compensate for specific physical and cognitive deficits, and maintain a higher level of independence at home and in everyday activities. However, the rapid development and widespread implementation of these technologies are not without associated challenges at multiple levels. An international and multidisciplinary group of authors provide future-oriented and in-depth analysis of IATs. Part I delineates the current landscape of intelligent assistive technologies for dementia care and age-related disability from a global perspective, while the contributions in Part II analyze and address the major psycho-social implications linked to the development and clinical use of IATs. In the last section, essays examine the major ethical, social and regulatory issues associated with the use of IATs in dementia care. This volume provides an authoritative and comprehensive overview of how IATs are reshaping dementia care.

This book explores the ways in which AgeTech can contribute to healthy cognitive aging and support the independence of people with dementia. Technology can play a key role in supporting the health, independence, and well-being of older adults, particularly as a response to rapid worldwide population aging. AgeTech refers to the use of technologies, such as information and communication technologies (ICTs), robotics, mobile technologies, artificial intelligence, ambient systems, and pervasive computing to drive technology-based innovation to benefit older adults. AgeTech has the potential to provide new ways of meeting the growing demands on health and social care services to support people to stay healthy and active. As such, AgeTech represents an increasingly important market sector within world economies. The book also addresses some of the research, innovation, and policy challenges that need to be resolved if technology-based products and services are to fulfill their potential and deliver real-world impacts to improve the lives of older adults and their carers, thus promoting more inclusive communities for the benefit of all.

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.

Pervasive healthcare is an emerging research discipline, focusing on the development and application of pervasive and ubiquitous computing technology for healthcare and wellness. Pervasive healthcare seeks to respond to a variety of pressures on healthcare systems, including the increased incidence of life-style related and chronic diseases, emerging consumerism in healthcare, need for empowering patients and relatives for self-care and management of their health, and need to provide seamless access for healthcare services, independent of time and place. Pervasive healthcare may be defined from two perspectives. First, it is the development and application of pervasive computing (or ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence) technologies for healthcare, health and wellness management. Second, it seeks to make healthcare available to anyone, anytime, and anywhere by removing locational, time and other restraints while increasing both the coverage and quality of healthcare. This book proposes to define the emerging area of pervasive health and introduce key management principles, most especially knowledge management, its tools, techniques and technologies. In addition, the book takes a socio-technical, patient-centric approach which serves to emphasize the importance of a key triumvirate in healthcare management namely, the focus on people, process and technology. Last but not least the book discusses in detail a specific example of pervasive health, namely the potential use of a wireless technology solution in the monitoring of diabetic patients.

Pervasive healthcare is the conceptual system of providing healthcare to anyone, at anytime, and anywhere by removing restraints of time and location while increasing both the coverage and the quality of healthcare. Pervasive Healthcare Computing is at the forefront of this research, and presents the ways in which mobile and wireless technologies can be used to implement the vision of pervasive healthcare. This vision includes prevention, healthcare maintenance and checkups; short-term monitoring (home healthcare), long-term monitoring (nursing home), and personalized healthcare monitoring; and incidence detection and management, emergency intervention, transportation and treatment. The pervasive healthcare applications include intelligent emergency management system, pervasive healthcare data access, and ubiquitous mobile telemedicine. Pervasive Healthcare Computing includes the treatment of several new wireless technologies and the ways in which they will implement the vision of pervasive healthcare.

The challenge of population aging requires innovative approaches to meet the needs of increasing numbers of older people. Emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as pervasive computing and ambient assistive technology, have considerable potential for enhancing the quality of life of many older people by providing additional safety and security while also supporting mobility, independent living, and social participation. The proposed book will be a landmark publication in the area of technology and aging that will serve as a statement of the current state-of-the-art and as a pointer to directions for future research and emerging technologies, products, and services.

Technology is playing an increasing role in the lives of the elderly. One of the most prevalent developments for the aging population is the use of technological innovations for intervention and treatment of individuals with mental impairments. The Handbook of Research on Innovations in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia offers empirical research and theoretical analyses on the cognitive impairment of the aging. Featuring studies in gerotechnology, this book is an essential resource for researchers, students, and practitioners in the field of geriatrics who are interested in the emerging research, clinical practices, therapy, and technological innovations concerning the development and treatment of dementia.