Personalized Support for Aging at Home

The present study is a randomized controlled trial that aimed to identify and quantify the care-related challenges faced by a care triad that includes a person with cognitive impairment, their family caregiver, and paid care providers. The study further explores how technology can address the care-related challenges for cognitive impairment through digital therapeutics presented on the SimpleC Companion.

Managing care at home has great emotional and quantifiable economic burden. The SimpleC behavioral health platform successfully delivered digital therapeutics at home. Such interventions reduced care team strain, family economic burden, and symptoms of depression and improved important medical outcomes, thus addressing the major challenges faced by caregivers at home. The functioning relationships of the SimpleC care triads improved sharply over a 3-month period.

Assistive technology, such as robots, has the potential to support healthy aging of older adults with and without dementia. Robots can support cognitive and socio-emotional tasks in addition to the traditional help with physical tasks. The goal of this feasibility study was to determine initial interest, engagement, facilitators, and barriers to support persons living with dementia (PWD) through social interaction via a Socially Assistive Robot.

The benefit of individualized treatment plans developed by a licensed music therapist for persons living with dementia (PwD) is well established in the field of music therapy. Individualized music interventions delivered through technology are able to provide similar value. Using technology to deliver music therapy can improve the reach of licensed music therapists.