Abstract
Medication safety is a special concern for the 30–40% of dementia patients that live alone at time of diagnosis and plays an important part in relocation decisions. We hypothesized that televideo monitoring could improve medication self–administration accuracy and improve mood for persons with mild dementia that live alone, or spend a significant amount of their day alone. Over two years the Mayo Foundation and Minnesota Department of Human Services supported the Mayo Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, in utilizing two–way interactive video technology to provide remote supervision of 12 persons with mild dementia. We used the technology primarily to monitor medication and meal compliance. We conducted more than 4000 contacts with these persons and found adequate technical outcome in 82% of calls. End medication compliance was 81% in our video monitored group compared to 66% in our controls (p<.05). Comparison of compliance from initial to end ratings revealed that video monitored participants compliance remained stable (change of .0.7 percentage points) while unmonitored patients compliance fell 12 percentage points, consistent with expectations for dementia. This difference was also significant. This study demonstrated that persons with MCI and mild dementia could be monitored without technical difficulty. Monitoring reduced deterioration in medication self–adminstration. Qualitative feedback from caregivers about the program was generally positive. Additional research to determine impact of this type of intervention on relocation and other outcomes is needed.
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Schedule a callMore From: Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association
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