Moderate Dementia clinical trials

Touchscreen Technology and Art for People With Dementia in Care Homes

The prevalence of dementia is rapidly growing worldwide, affecting 46.8 million people in 2015. The 2014 Alzheimer's Society report estimated that 311,730 people with dementia were living in care homes in the United Kingdom (UK). In care homes, people are more likely to be socially isolated and experience a lack of stimulation. It has been argued that access to meaningful activities is of high importance. One strategy that may engage older people in enjoyable leisure activities is the use of touchscreen technology. Previous research has indicated that people with dementia and care staff reported positive experiences when using touchscreen technology, showing improvements in quality of life, relationships and interpersonal interaction. A possible way to engage people with dementia with touchscreen technology could be through the use of the visual arts. Preliminary evidence shows the use of arts with this population to be beneficial in reducing behavioural symptoms, depression and isolation and make people with dementia more able to express feelings. The use of visual art activities in touchscreen technology is a promising idea, as positive results from interventions using these activities independently can be found in scientific literature. This intervention will consist of the use of two different visual art apps on touchscreen tablets with people with dementia living in care homes. Study data collection will take 8 weeks; four weeks will involve the execution of the intervention and four weeks for measurements. Participants will be supported to use the app twice-weekly, with a maximum of 8 individual sessions. So far, very little research on the benefits of visual art interventions on touchscreen devices has been made. Thus, there is a need to have more research on this topic. This study will add to research on this field, and its results could be valuable to care staff and people with dementia.