Search

The role of Everyday Technology (ET) use is presented as subsidiary or neutral in policy for age- and dementia-friendly communities; and yet, research suggests that older people, especially those with dementia, experience increased challenges using ET in their everyday lives. Through the lens of micro-citizenship, the study aims to deepen the knowledge about how use of ET outside the home, including portable ETs, relates to participation in places visited within public space among people with dementia over time. Using a longitudinal study design, 35 people with dementia were recruited at baseline and followed over three years. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews using standardised questionnaires: the Participation in ACTivities and Places OUTside Home Questionnaire (ACT-OUT) and the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire (ETUQ). Random intercept modelling and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Throughout the three-year study, decreasing use of ET outside the home, including portable ETs, was associated with decreasing participation in places visited within public space, in a statistically significant way when controlling for age (F = 7.59, p = 0.01). The findings indicate that facilitating access and use of ET outside the home, among people with dementia, should be integral to promoting and maintaining participation in age- and dementia-friendly communities. Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.

Introduction: Increasingly, literature has focused on community participation in places visited by persons living with and without dementia. Earlier research indicates that multiple factors, including socio-demographic aspects and risk perception may influence community participation. Aim and methods: This cross-sectional, explorative study aims to inquire into how places visited, socio-demographic aspects and risks perception are associated with self-rated community participation for persons living with and without dementia (n = 70) in Switzerland. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews with questionnaires (ACT-OUT, MoCA, sociodemographic). First, we investigated whether the number of places visited was correlated with self-rated participation; then we added socio-demographic and risks perception factors with a bivariate analysis; and searched for a model using multinomial logistic regressions. Results: For the group of participants living with dementia, risks of falling (p =.014) and of getting lost (p =.037) were significantly associated with self-rated participation. For the group of participants living without dementia, visiting places outside the home was significantly associated with self-rated participation, especially visiting places in domain D/places for recreational and physical activities (p =.005). Discussion and conclusions: The results of exploring multiple factors and searching for a model highlights the complexity of community participation as a construct. Risks and visiting places for recreational and physical activities seem to play a role in self-rated participation. Mobile interviews might be better suited to gain in-depth understanding on community participation for persons living with dementia.

There is limited empirical knowledge about how older adults living with dementia enact their social citizenship through out-of-home participation. This study aimed: (a) to investigate out-of-home participation among older adults with and without dementia in four countries and (b) to compare aspects of stability or change in out-of-home participation. Using a cross-sectional design, older adults with mild-to-moderate dementia and without dementia, aged 55 years and over, were interviewed using the Participation in ACTivities and Places OUTside the Home questionnaire in Canada (n = 58), Sweden (n = 69), Switzerland (n = 70), and the United Kingdom (n = 128). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a two-way analysis of variance. After adjustment for age, diagnosis of dementia and country of residence had significant effects on total out-of-home participation (p <.01). The results contribute to policies and development of programs to facilitate social citizenship by targeting specific activities and places.

Genes in the HLA class II region include the most important inherited risk factors for type 1 diabetes (T1D) although also polymorphisms outside the HLA region modulate the predisposition to T1D. This study set out to confirm a recent observation in which a novel expression quantitative trait locus was formed by three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the intron of HLA-DRA1 in DR3-DQ2 haplotypes. The SNPs significantly increased the risk for T1D in DR3-DQ2 homozygous individuals and we intended to further explore this association, in the Finnish population, by comparing two DR3-DQ2 positive genotypes. Cohorts with DR3-DQ2/DR3-DQ2 (N = 570) and DR3-DQ2/DR1-DQ5 (N = 1035) genotypes were studied using TaqMan analysis that typed for rs3135394, rs9268645 and rs3129877. The tri-SNP haplotype was significantly more common in cases than controls in the DR3-DQ2/DR3-DQ2 cohort (OR = 1.70 CI 95% = 1.15–2.51P = 0.007). However, no significant associations could be observed in the DR3-DQ2/DR1-DQ5 cohort.

Background: The health-promoting qualities of participation as an opportunity for social and cognitive engagement are well known. Use of Everyday Technology such as Smartphones or ATMs, as enabling or disabling factors for out-of-home participation is however under-researched, particularly among older people with and without dementia. Out-of-home participation involves participation in places and activities outside of a person’s home, in public space. Situated within the context of an increasingly technological society, the study investigated factors such as perceived risks, access to a concession travel pass and use of Everyday Technologies, and their relationship with out-of-home participation, among older people in the UK. Methods: One hundred twenty-eight older people with and without dementia in urban and rural environments in the UK, were interviewed using the Participation in ACTivities and Places OUTside Home (ACT-OUT) Questionnaire and the Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire (ETUQ). Associations between Everyday Technology use, perceived risk of falling, functional impairment, access to a concession travel pass and out-of-home participation were investigated using ordinal regression. Results: A higher probability of Everyday Technology use (Odds Ratio [OR] = 1.492; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.041–1.127), perceived risk of falling outside home (OR = 2.499; 95% CI = 1.235–5.053) and, access to a concession travel pass (OR = 3.943; 95% CI = 1.970–7.893) were associated with a higher level of out-of-home participation. However, other types of risk (getting lost; feeling stressed or embarrassed) were not associated with out-of-home participation. Having a functional impairment was associated with a low probability of a higher level of out-of-home participation (OR = .470; 95% CI = .181–1.223). Across the sample, ‘outside home’ Everyday Technologies were used to a higher degree than ‘portable’ Everyday Technologies which can be used both in and outside hom

Workshop.

Background: As people with intellectual disabilities (ID) today live integrated in society and use different technological artefacts and services in their everyday life, more in‐depth evaluation methods are crucial to detect strengths and limitations of their everyday technology use. The Everyday Technology Use Questionnaire (ETUQ) was originally designed to investigate the extent to which older adults with cognitive limitations can use the everyday technology that is of relevance to them. The purpose of this study was to explore and evaluate evidence of the validity of ETUQ among adult persons with ID. Methods: The original 93‐item ETUQ was used to interview 120 adult participants with ID, recruited from a region in northern Sweden. A Rasch model was used to analyse the psychometric properties of the rating scale, scale validity, person response validity and person separation. Results: The ETUQ rating scale displayed sound psychometric properties when used with this sample. The goodness‐of‐fit statistics showed that 15 (16%) of the 93 items demonstrated higher values than expected. A step‐by‐step removal process of items not demonstrating fit to the model resulted in an ETUQ version with 46 items (49%) that met all the criteria for scale validity. Fifteen participants (12%), primarily with mild ID, still demonstrated a higher number of unexpected responses included in ETUQ. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that the ETUQ generates a valid measure of perceived difficulty in using everyday technology including adult persons with ID.

PURPOSE: To identify, based on the literature, people with dementia's potentials to manage an easy-to-use videophone, and to develop a videophone requirement specification for people with dementia. METHOD: The study is based on the Inclusive Design method, utilising the first two of four phases. Content analyses of literature reviews were used to identify users' potentials for managing a videophone and to gather recommendations regarding communication technology design for the target group. Existing videophones in Sweden were examined regarding potential fit to users with dementia. FINDINGS: This led to detailed identification of cognitive, physical and psychosocial challenges that people with dementia will probably have when using an ordinary telephone or videophone. A requirement specification for videophone design to fit users with dementia was formulated, with the seven principles of Universal Design as a framework. CONCLUSIONS: The requirement specification presented here is aimed at designing a videophone but might also facilitate design of other products for people with dementia, particularly in the field of communication technology. Based on this, further work will focus on developing a design concept and a prototype to be empirically tested by people with dementia and their significant others, i.e. the final two design process phases.

Purpose. The ability to manage technology is important for performance and participation in everyday activities. This study compares the management of technology in everyday activities among people with mild-stage dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with older adults without known cognitive impairment (OA). Method. Persons with mild-stage dementia (n=38), MCI (n=33) and OA (n=45) were observed and interviewed when managing their everyday technology at home by using the Management of Everyday Technology Assessment (META). A computer application of a Rasch measurement model was used to generate measures of participants' ability to manage technology. These measures were compared groupwise with ANCOVA. Results. The management of everyday technology was significantly more challenging for the samples with mild-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) or MCI compared to the OA sample (AD – OA, p<0.001; d=1.87, MCI – OA, p<0.001; d=0.66). The sample with MCI demonstrated a significantly higher ability to manage technology than the sample with mild-stage AD (AD – MCI, p<0.001; d=1.23). However, there were overlaps between the groups and decreased ability appeared in all groups. Conclusions. Persons with cognitive impairment are likely to have decreased ability to manage everyday technology. Since their decreased ability can have disabling consequences, ability to manage technology is important to consider when assessing ability to perform everyday activities., The authors first of all want to thank the participants who generously demonstrated their management of everyday technology for them. They also want to thank the professionals at the investigation units who helped them to recruit participants. Particularly, the authors would like to thank Sofia Starkhammar, Monica Pantzar, Jenny Rasmussen Tjernlund, Susanne Andersson, Lizette Mårtensson, and Maria Carlsson for data collection and management.

BACKGROUND: There is a need to empirically explore the occupational engagement of people with disabilities to support the development of occupational therapy interventions. PURPOSE: This study describes how people with disabilities experience their occupational lives in their home environment. METHOD: Thirteen people with physical disabilities living at home were interviewed and data were subsequently analysed using a constant comparative method. RESULTS: The findings showed that interactions between the individuals and their environment influenced their experiences of engaging in occupations and the meaning of their home. Occupations formed three categories: always performed with others, occasionally disrupted or deprived. These were particularly related to the social support that was provided under different conditions. This condition formed a central category: access to social support for occupations. Their experiences of performing occupations in the home also formed another central category: transformed meaning of the home. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: By understanding enabling conditions as well as barriers to occupational engagement, effective occupational therapy interventions can be developed to support the occupational lives of people with disabilities.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluating functional level of persons with diagnosed or suspected dementia is an important part of occupational therapy. The importance of the environment is often highlighted. We investigated the ability of clients with suspected dementia to perform instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) in the clinic versus in their homes. METHOD: We used the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) to measure the motor and process skill ability of 19 clients with suspected dementia. RESULTS: Using two-tailed paired t-tests, we found no overall difference in IADL motor or process performance between the clinic and home setting. However, of the 19 clients, 6 had motor ability measures, whereas 5 had process ability measures that differed significantly between the two settings. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that if we want to know how a person with suspected dementia performs in IADLs in a specific environment we should test him or her in that environment.