Giving older adults, particularly those living with dementia, tech tools to showcase their memories and “life stories” is a tremendous addition to senior living and care communities, a new study shows.
The idea that giving residents a platform to showcase their favorite memories, and that doing so benefits both the older adults and their caregivers, isn’t necessarily a novel finding.
The new study, however, offers some careful considerations for senior living and care providers in implementing those tools: “Life story” tech needs to be easy to use, and time and training must be available to caregivers to ensure that residents get the most out of the experience.
The study was a meta-review that looked at dozens of research reports over the past 20 years to assess both the validation of digital life story, or DLS, technology, and identify any consistent concerns.
“A [DLS] describes who the person is,” the study authors wrote. “It shapes the person, and the person shapes their [life story]. It makes sense that one’s life helps shape one’s story and allows one’s feelings and experiences to be shared. Through a healthcare professional’s active use of the LS, the person ‘behind’ the dementia disease can be seen and heard.”
The number of older adults living with cognitive issues and memory impairment has grown to the point where many are now living in nursing homes that lack specialized care for them, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News reported last year. And McKnight’s Senior Living previously reported that, according to data from the federal government, 42% of assisted living residents have diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.
The meta-review describes the wide variety of ways technology can facilitate memory-sharing, from playing music to creating a digital photo album. In addition, those tools were proven to help older adults living with dementia maintain a higher quality of life, “preserving a sense of self and familiarity,” the study authors wrote.
Through those tools, older adults also maintained interaction with peers, family members and caregivers. With the latter, the sharing of this kind of information could help bridge a generational divide, the research found.
The more sophisticated the technology was, however, the more it required some preliminary training and troubleshooting to make sure it was effective. In an environment of chronic staffing shortages, it may be difficult to find extra time to set aside for training and addressing technical problems, the researchers cautioned.
The most significant pattern the researchers found was that no matter how well-meaning, some tools simply were not user-friendly or they included audiovisual components that overwhelmed some older adults rather than enhance their experience.
The concern that tech tools aimed at older adults are designed without their input, or that they ignore their usability needs, has become a common refrain among health tech experts.
One technology recently introduced to US senior living communities to help residents share memories is a digital whiteboard wall display from SMART Technologies. It gives residents an interactive way to highlight people and places that are meaningful to them.
