Innovations in technology exist to aid nearly every aspect of contemporary life, including preventing individuals with dementia from wandering off and notifying their caregivers when they do.

Research has indicated that such technology — typically encompassing wearable gadgets equipped with GPS and other similar non-invasive sensors — alleviates emotional burdens for those caring for a family member with dementia.

This is crucial, considering that an estimated 6.9 million Americans aged 65 and above are affected by Alzheimer’s disease, with the prevalence of Alzheimer’s and additional forms of dementia on the rise. Moreover, family caregivers for individuals with dementia face higher levels of stress and poorer physical and mental health compared to others.

So far, little has been understood about how caregivers of dementia patients utilize these devices and the extent of their perceived benefits.

Recently, fresh perspectives regarding user satisfaction with a specific brand — Theora Care — have emerged, made possible by a pilot study sponsored by the Texas Alzheimer’s Research and Care Consortium and conducted by researchers from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health.

The Theora Care system offers a wearable device for the individual with dementia, linked to a smartphone application that notifies the caregiver if the individual has wandered. Furthermore, the system facilitates communication between the two parties.

“This emphasis on enhancing situational awareness for both caregivers and individuals with dementia represents a novel advance in this category of technology,” stated Dr. Matthew Lee Smith, a health behavior professor involved in the study. “Our objective was to determine how usable caregivers found this technology, along with their overall contentment with it.”

Joining Smith were Texas A&M scholars Dr. Marcia G. Ory, Regents and Distinguished Professor, along with staff member Ashley D. Wilson and postdoctoral fellow Chung Lin Kew — all from the Center for Community Health and Aging — in addition to collaborators from the University of North Texas, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, and University of Utah.

A GPS-based Gadget

Their research, carried out from Sept. 1, 2018, to Dec. 31, 2021, included 41 pairs of individuals consisting of those living with dementia and their family caregivers across three locations in Texas. The average age of caregivers was 66 years, with 78.7 percent being female, 95.2 percent Caucasian, and 61.9 percent possessing at least a four-year college education. The average age of care recipients was 76.77 years, with 57.6 percent being male, 96.8 percent Caucasian, and 58.7 percent having achieved at least a four-year college degree.

Nearly 79 percent of caregivers indicated they lived with their care recipient, who was typically their spouse or partner (66.7 percent) or parent (28.6 percent). They also shared that they provided an average of 5.7 hours daily in caregiving activities.

Individuals receiving care wore a GPS-based device (similar to a smartwatch) that included an SOS emergency calling feature. The caregivers had an application on their smartphones that tracked the location of their care recipients, established physical boundaries that triggered notifications when breached, and allowed direct communication with those who wandered.

Results

After three months of using the system, caregivers participated in a telephone interview where they shared information about their usage of the system’s tracking, “safe zone,” and two-way calling functionality. They also commented on the system’s user-friendliness, effectiveness in caregiving, and their overall satisfaction.

“Caregivers with higher initial Zarit Burden Interview scores generally found the system to be more beneficial for their caregiving roles and expressed greater satisfaction with it,” Smith noted.

He mentioned that their satisfaction may be attributed to their belief that these technological solutions lessen the burdens linked to vigilant supervision and anxiety about wandering.

A significant proportion of caregivers (70 percent) noted that their care recipient utilized the wearable device daily. Caregivers reported a lower frequency in daily use of the smartphone’s tracking, geo-fencing, or two-way communication features (decreasing from 39 percent to 17.1 percent).

Smith remarked that this indicates caregivers gained reassurance from knowing the individual with dementia was wearing the device, resulting in less daily reliance on certain system functions.

“While additional studies are necessary, these findings are promising,” Smith stated. “They suggest that multi-faceted technological solutions can be embraced and may benefit both caregivers and individuals living with dementia.”

The article Advanced Wearable Technology Improves Support For People With Dementia And Their Caregivers was originally published on Texas A&M Today.