

Observations on Technology Use by Dementia / Alzheimer's Patients - robabbott

A recent personal experience has proven to me that there is an underserved market for people who develop dementia, Alzheimer&#x27;s, and other related neurological disorders.  These diseases can strike people in a broad range of ages and seemingly wipe out the ability to use more modern technologies.  Someone who previously had the ability to use cell phones, computers, etc. can rapidly degrade to the point where extraneous buttons and touchscreens (for example) make a device overwhelming and completely useless.  As we struggled with my mother-in-law this afternoon because she was overwhelmed by too many buttons on her cordless phone and TV remote, it seems to me that there is still room for simple devices that can assist a struggling user.<p>Does anyone have any similar experiences or thoughts on this subject?
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projectramo
I agree with your observation. I will add that habits formed before Dementia
struck are more or less intact (for instance, the patient can log into their
hotmail with the password already stored). The inability to learn new things
just means that no new passwords can be learned, and no new environments can
be learned. It would be great to develop habits before the dementia gets full
blown. Like the habit of going to a particular location each day and updating
one's life every morning (like 50 first dates).

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robabbott
Very interesting. I wonder if that is a difference between the disease
processes of dementia and Alzheimer's. I am noticing a marked regression in my
mother-in-law's ability to function with normal tasks, whereas my grandmother
who had dementia was able to perform certain activities well (although she
didn't know why).

