Domain Experts on Dementia-Care Technologies: Mitigating Risk in Design and Implementation

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Integrating technology into dementia care presents urgent challenges.
• A need exists to identify future prevalent technologies, their benefits, and risks.
• Understanding potential value tensions is crucial for ethical technology adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To project prevalent technologies in dementia care in five years.
• To articulate potential benefits and risks associated with these technologies.
• To identify strategies for mitigating risks and managing value tensions.

Main Methods:

• A two-round online Delphi study involving 21 interdisciplinary experts from the U.S. and Canada.
• Expert rankings and thematic analysis of written responses were used.
• Data collection achieved an 84% response rate with no attrition.

Main Results:

• Twelve technology categories were identified for dementia care.
• Detailed lists of risks and benefits for each technology category were compiled.
• Risk mitigation strategies include design interventions, technical choices, user control, data transparency, security, informed consent, and education.

Conclusions:

• The study provides essential information for navigating person-centered technology use in dementia care.
• Recommendations are relevant for designers, clinicians, researchers, ethicists, and policymakers.
• Proactive engagement from technology design through implementation is necessary.