A technology-aided program to support positive occupation in people with advanced Alzheimer’s disease: A pilot study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: People with advanced Alzheimer’s disease tend to be sedentary and passive unless staff intervene to support their occupation. OBJECTIVE: This pilot study assessed the impact of a technology-aided program set up to help participants at the low end of the moderate or at the severe level of the disease access preferred stimulation and carry out simple/basic activities involving the use of everyday objects. METHODS: The program (a) relied on the use of a tablet, a voice-recording device, and a mini speaker and (b) provided the participants with verbal and visual instructions to guide them in carrying out the activity steps and accessing preferred stimulation. The program was implemented with five participants according to a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participants design. RESULTS: During the baseline phase (i.e., prior to the use of the program), the participants carried out less than 15% of the activity steps and relied on the research assistants to access preferred stimulation (songs). During the intervention phase (i.e., with the program), the participants’ percentage of activity steps carried out increased to between about 58 and 92. Moreover, all participants were largely successful in accessing preferred stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the technology-aided program used in this study might help increase the level of positive occupation of people with advanced Alzheimer’s disease.