Empowering people with dementia via using intelligent assistive technology: A scoping review

Objectives: Over the past decade, the idea has been promoted that intelligent assistive technology (IAT) can empower people with dementia. As a new area of inquiry, however, the concept of empowerment and the impact of IAT in this context are still unclear. Therefore, we conducted a scoping review to examine the conceptualizing and measuring of empowerment, as well as to understand the impact of IAT on empowering people with dementia in the existing studies. Design: A scoping review was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, using the following databases: Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Science Direct. In addition, a manual search was also conducted in Google Scholar to identify further articles. Results: A total of 28 articles examining the empowerment of people with dementia via IAT met the inclusion criteria. Most had a cross-sectional (43%) or interventional/experimental design (39%). A little more than half (54%) were qualitative studies. We observed inconsistencies in the conceptualization and measurement of the concept of empowerment in the included studies; as such, the exact role of IAT in this context remains somewhat unclear. However, most of the studies suggest that IAT can empower people with mild/moderate dementia by enhancing their capacity to live more independently with privacy for a longer period of time. Conclusions: Future research should focus on developing a clear definition of the concept of empowerment, as well as developing a reliable and valid tool for measuring it.

Automated summary

This scoping review investigates the conceptualization and impact of intelligent assistive technology (IAT) on empowering people with dementia. The included studies showed inconsistencies in the conceptualization and measurement of empowerment, but most of them suggest that IAT can empower individuals with mild/moderate dementia by enhancing their independence and privacy. Further research should focus on developing a clear definition of empowerment and reliable tools for measuring it.