Abstract
BackgroundPeople living with all stages of dementia should have the opportunity to participate in meaningful occupations. For those living in care homes, this may not always occur and residents may spend significant parts of the day unengaged, especially those living with more advanced dementia. Digital technologies are increasingly being used in health care and could provide opportunities for people living with dementia (PLWD) in care homes to engage in meaningful occupations and support care staff to provide these activities. With technology advancing at a rapid rate, the objective of this scoping review is to provide an up-to-date systematic map of the research on the diverse range of digital technologies that support engagement in meaningful occupations. In particular, focus will be given to barriers and facilitators to inform future intervention design and implementation strategies, which have not yet been clearly mapped across the full range of these digital technologies.MethodA scoping review will be conducted to systematically search for published research using a comprehensive search strategy on thirteen databases. Published, peer-reviewed studies that focused on PLWD in the care home setting and assessed any form of digital technology that supported a meaningful occupation will be included. All methodologies which meet the criteria will be included. Data will be extracted and charted to report the range of digital technologies, underlying mechanisms of action, facilitators and barriers to implementation.DiscussionMapping the range of technologies to support PLWD to engage in meaningful occupations will identify gaps in research. The systematic search will include a diverse range of technologies such as software to enhance care planning, tablets devices, smartphones, communication robots and social media platforms, rather than focussing on a specific design or interface. This will enable comparison between mechanisms of action, barriers and facilitators to implementation which will be useful for future research and intervention design.Trial registrationOpen Science Framework https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/7UDM2
Highlights
People living with all stages of dementia should have the opportunity to participate in meaningful occupations
Mapping the range of technologies to support people living with dementia (PLWD) to engage in meaningful occupations will identify gaps in research
This is despite national guidelines recommending that people living with dementia (PLWD) should be offered activities tailored to their preferences [4]
Summary
People living with all stages of dementia should have the opportunity to participate in meaningful occupations. Digital technologies are increasingly being used in health care and could provide opportunities for people living with dementia (PLWD) in care homes to engage in meaningful occupations and support care staff to provide these activities. Engaging in activities that are meaningful or personalised to the PLWD have been reported to reduce agitation [14, 15], improve affect and engagement [16], these benefits have not been consistently reported between reviews [17] These interventions, by their nature, often involve increased social interaction which may be acting as a confounding factor [15,16,17,18]
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