Dementia Care: Digital Tools for Aging in Place

Digital technology is ever-present in how we operate in daily life, particularly to connect with others. While touted as a suitable alternative in place of in-person interactions, it has previously been unclear if the same benefits extend to persons living with dementia and their caregivers.

Findings from research by Assistant Professor of Social Work at George Mason University Li-Mei Chen, a gerontologist specializing in dementia care and digital health, indicate that technology-enabled interventions can meaningfully support persons living with dementia and their caregivers by improving self-efficacy, emotional well-being, social connectedness, and care coordination.

The research, “Technology that Supports Extending Dementia-Friendly Community-Based Care: A Scoping Review,” was published in Current Geriatrics Reports.

This novel scoping review analyzed 27 studies on technology-based interventions that support aging in place (i.e., older adults remaining in their homes as they age) for persons living with dementia.

Key findings:

• Digital tools provide measurable benefits for caregivers and persons living with dementia, particularly in mental health, knowledge, and social connection.
• No single technology type is superior. The success of these technologies depends on personalization, usability, and designs using more than one care approach.
• Digital tools are generally feasible and acceptable, especially when they are easy to use and culturally tailored; however, interventions primarily focus on English-speaking, higher-income, and urban populations. For this reason, equity and representation remain major gaps, limiting who benefits from current digital dementia care (i.e., non-English speakers, lower-income individuals, rural populations).

Unlike prior reviews that focused on single technologies (e.g., robotic pets, telehealth, apps), this study maps how multiple intervention types function together to support aging in place.

Chen systematically classified dementia-related digital interventions using the World Health Organization Digital Health Intervention framework and analyzed equity gaps and social determinants of digital access. She also highlights the lack of culturally adapted or inclusive digital dementia care where persons living with dementia contribute to the design of the technology.