2004 Everyday Technologies for Alzheimer Care Grant

People with Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders that cause dementia often experience behavioral symptoms, such as agitation, inactivity, social withdrawal, depression and wandering. These symptoms complicate care, affect adherence to medication regimens and often require a family to seek institutional care.

The standard assessment tools for monitoring behavioral symptoms are generally “pencil and paper” rating scales based on caregiver input and professional observation. While the methods are valuable, they are time-consuming, lack objectivity, and do not necessarily provide information when it would be most valuable.

Adrian Leibovici, M.D., and colleagues are assessing whether commercially available electronic monitoring technologies may supplement or replace some current assessment tools. The goals of the project are to (1) monitor changes in motion, behavioral patterns, and daily activities of people with dementia and (2) to determine if any such changes are correlated with their overall scores or subscores on standard rating scales.

Identifying correlations may provide a foundation for long-term investigations of monitoring technologies to assess whether they provide accurate, “real time” information about behavioral symptoms and decrease dependence on traditional assessment tools.