Interconnected living in a quarter for persons with dementia

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Informatics
• Assistive Technologies

Background:

• Dementia care requires innovative solutions to support patients living independently.
• Current care models may not adequately address the evolving needs of individuals with dementia.
• Technological integration offers potential for enhanced safety and personalized support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel care concept: interconnected living in a quarter for dementia patients.
• To describe a technical setup including safety and activity detection systems.
• To enable quarter managers to provide appropriate interventions through activity monitoring.

Main Methods:

• A nine-month field study involving eight participants across two quarters.
• Evaluation of activity indicators for personalized support levels.
• Qualitative interviews with dementia patients and quarter managers to assess usefulness and perception.

Main Results:

• The interconnected living concept demonstrably increases patient safety.
• Identified key activity indicators to guide appropriate levels of support.
• Confirmed the utility of the technical infrastructure in a real-world setting.

Conclusions:

• The proposed concept offers a holistic, cross-disciplinary approach to dementia care.
• Interconnected living facilitates improved safety and tailored support for dementia patients.
• The evaluated technical setup supports personalized interventions in a community setting.