A qualitative exploration of people living with dementia's experiences of using everyday technology

Technology is becoming a popular and cost-effective way of supporting people living with dementia. Despite this, uptake and adherence to technology interventions is variable. Two factors contributing to this are people's pre-existing attitudes towards technology which influence how accepted interventions are, and how accessible technologies are to use. Attitudes and accessibility are developed through people's everyday experiences of technology which are underexplored in research.

This study used photo-elicitation interviews to explore ten people living with dementia's experiences of using everyday technology and dementia-specific technology. Experiences were explored in and outside the home environment to understand experience at an individual and societal level. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to understand how technologies are experienced, and how these experiences might contribute to the acceptability and accessibility of technologies supporting people living with dementia.

Four overarching findings were formed from the data: 1) Impact of symptoms of dementia on technology use, 2) Motivation to use technology, 3) The importance of integrating appropriate technology, and 4) The importance of setting in technology implementation.

These findings demonstrate that technologies are a desirable method of providing support to many people living with dementia if the correct tailoring and support is given. People living with dementia are motivated to use technology for various reasons, but interventions that enhance existing face-to-face services, rather than replace them maybe more accepted. Finally, people living with dementia are hopeful that technology will help future generations because these individuals will begin their dementia journey already equipped with the confidence and skills to manage more complex technologies effectively.