Alzheimer Europe has today launched a discussion paper on the use of technology for and by people with dementia. This document was developed jointly by the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD) and the European Dementia Carers Working Group (EDCWG). Technology has the potential to assist people with dementia in certain aspects of their daily lives. It can help them overcome various obstacles and challenges, resulting not only from their impairments but also from the way that society is organised. This can include technology developed to address the specific needs associated with dementia. It can also include technology that was not developed for people with dementia, but which is used by people with and without dementia. Some technology can be enabling and promote independence, and in some cases provide support to carers.
However, some technology creates additional challenges. People with dementia often have no alternative but to use technology or be excluded from some part of social, political, commercial or cultural life. This, combined with the unprecedented rate at which technology is evolving, has resulted in some groups of people feeling “left behind” or excluded from the increasingly technological society in which we now live. Technology does not, therefore, make everyone’s life easier and it is important that appropriate modifications are made and measures taken to ensure that people with dementia have the same rights and opportunities as other members of society (in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities).
This discussion paper has been developed to promote reflection, raise awareness and hopefully bring about change in relation to the development and use of a broad range of technologies. Members of the EWGPWD and the EDCWG singled out eight key issues that they found particularly meaningful and relevant, which could be of particular interest, for example, to developers, providers, policy makers, users and funders. The discussion paper and related guidelines can be downloaded from the Alzheimer Europe website, at: