Wearable Technology to Garner the Perspective of Dementia Family Caregivers

Family caregivers of individuals with dementia typically have limited opportunity during brief clinical encounters to describe the dementia-related behaviors and interactions they find difficult to handle. Lack of objective data depicting the nature, intensity, and impact of these manifestations of the underlying disease further constrains the extent to which strategies recommended by nurses or other health care providers can be tailored to the situation. The current article describes a prototype wearable camera system used to gather image and voice data from the caregiver's perspective in a pilot feasibility intervention study conducted with 18 caregiving dyads. Several scenarios are presented that include salient events (i.e., behaviors or interactions deemed difficult by the caregiver or identified as concerning by the research team during screening) captured in the resulting video. The current authors anticipate future wearable camera systems and software will automate screening for salient events, providing new tools for assessment and intervention by nurses.