Dressing Assistant: Home Technology to Sustain Independent Dressing in Dementia

AbstractPersons living with dementiaPWDoften require assistance with routine activities and daily tasksWorkloads placed on caregivers often results in high levels of physical and emotional stressand depressionand higher overall morbidity and mortality ratesFocus group of caregivers for individuals with mild to moderate dementiaidentified dressing the PWD as the most pressing and stressful daily concernWe have developed a prototype computerized Dressing AssistantDAdesigned to reduce caregiver burden and independenceThe systememploying advanced smart home technologies embedded within a set of dresser drawersuniquely tailors assistance to the cognitive and affective states and abilities of PWDusing prompts and feedbackOur interdisciplinary team which combines human computer interactiongerontological nursing and dementiawill conduct translational researchbringing DA from laboratory to home settingsAIMOptimize the Dressing Assistant installation procedures for PWD home settingsTo understand how effectively the DA system can be installed in a homewe will considerthe initial system installationincluding length of installation visitnumber of component adjustmentsand caregiver and PWD training time requiredandopportunities for system optimization and durability through ongoing DA system monitoringalert notices generated by the performance logand caregiver feedback to the study teamAIMAssess Dressing Assistant system reliability and accuracy in PWD home settingsWe will use an adaptive support modelperformance logerror rateand caregiver feedbackto determine how accurately the DA system functions in a home settingData includessystem switches and sensor logsi ewhich drawers were openedwhenfor how longand in what sequenceand doorway motion sensorvalidated Pearlin s Caregiver Mastery and Mahoney s Caregiver Vigilance scales will determine trend effectsandmobile device caregiver feedbackAIMMaximize utility through identification of barriers and facilitatorsusageacceptabilityeffectivenessand perceptions and refining system accordinglyWe will identify barriers and facilitators that enable impede frequentlong term Dressing Assistant system use and compare performance log usage frequency data and accuracy measuresAIMto consider how DA system accuracy affects usageThe DA system generated dataand qualitative open ended structured caregivers and PWD interviews will be used to determine acceptabilityWe will consider whether the PWD caregiver dyad effectively uses the technologyfrequency and duration of use based on the performance logsand user interviews to identify reasons for using not using the DA systemInterviews will identify barriers and facilitators influencing usage and obtain information about how positive and negative perceptions of the interaction experience affect useKey WordsAlzheimerandapos scaregiverdementiasmart homeassistive technologyActivities of Daily Living NarrativePublic Health SignificanceThe number of people living with Alzheimerandapos s DiseaseADthe leading cause of dementiais expected to triple in the nextyearswith the potential to significantly increase the burden on caregiversAs a resultmorbidity and mortality rates for caregivers stands to increaseOur translational research and comercialization efforts seeks to optimize the translation of a Dressing AssistantDAdeveloped under a successful Rawardfrom laboratory to home settingsto engage and empower the PWD and to decrease the burden on caregivershaving the potential to reduce caregiver morbidity and mortality and increase quality of life