Assisted Technology for Dementia

Personality changes, the ability to remember, plan, and reason are all impairments which come with dementia. This disease, caused by a gradual loss in brain cells, is estimated to affect 30-47 percent of adults aged 85 and over . There are a number of assistive technology devices designed to help people who have dementia and the caregivers who support them.

Bathroom Help

• Dementia suffers also have problems with leaving on the water or getting water too hot. Bathroom aid devices will "sense" when you have left the water on or use temperature gauges so the water will not get to a scalding temperature.

Kitchen Products

• Stoves which turn themselves off, programmable coffee pots, safety locks and beginner cookbooks can all assist dementia patients in the kitchen. The stove guard can turn the heat off when it senses there is no cook in the kitchen.

Memory Assistance

• Memory loss is a troubling symptom of dementia. Assistive technology products are available to break daily tasks down into smaller steps with reminder aids like a talking clock, or a simpler TV remote, or a visual time clock.

Home Modifications

• There are issues with dementia patients who wander. Putting up fake bookcase murals over a door, alarms which warn the caregiver the patient is wandering and large banners are all types of assistive technology to help dementia patients.

Cost

• Cost for assistive devices range from very inexpensive like laminated instruction cards to very expensive like a personal GPS system. Assistive technology devices can help people with dementia live more independently and give caregivers some needed support.