Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr;20(3):1124-1143.
doi: 10.1177/1471301220922745. Epub 2020 May 7.

Using touchscreen tablets to support social connections and reduce responsive behaviours among people with dementia in care settings: A scoping review

Lillian Hung  1   1 , Bryan Chow  1 , John Shadarevian  1 , Ryan O'Neill  2   1 , Annette Berndt  1 , Christine Wallsworth  1 , Neil Horne  1 , Mario Gregorio  1 , Jim Mann  3   1 , Cathy Son  4   1 , Habib Chaudhury  1
Affiliations

Using touchscreen tablets to support social connections and reduce responsive behaviours among people with dementia in care settings: A scoping review

Lillian Hung et al. Dementia (London). 2021 Apr.

Abstract

The use of touchscreen tablets, such as the iPad, offers potential to support the person with dementia staying in a care setting, ranging from a long-term care home to an adult day programme. Although electronic devices are used among people with dementia, a comprehensive review of studies focusing on their impact and how they may be used effectively in care settings is lacking. We conducted a scoping review to summarize existing knowledge about the impact of touchscreen tablets in supporting social connections and reducing responsive behaviours of people with dementia in care settings. Our research team consists of patient partners and family partners, physicians, nurses, a medical student and an academic professor. A total of 17 articles were included in the review. Our analysis identified three ways in which touchscreen tablets support dementia care: (1) increased the person's engagement, (2) decreased responsive behaviours and (3) positive effect on enjoyment/quality of life for people with dementia. Lessons learned and barriers to the use of touchscreen tablets in the care of people with dementia are described. Overall, only a few studies delineated strategies that helped to overcome barriers to technology adoption in care settings. Knowledge translation studies are needed to identify effective processes and practical tips to overcome barriers and realize the potential of assistive technology in dementia care.

Keywords: behaviours; care setting; dementia; scoping review; social connection; touchscreen.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram for the scoping review process. Source: reproduced with permission from Peters et al., 2015.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aitken K. A. (2015). The effects of a digital memory book on the quality and quantity of conversations in adults with mild to moderate dementia [Master thesis]. University of Canterbury.
    1. Alzheimer Society of Canada (2019). Dementia numbers in Canada. https://alzheimer.ca/en/Home/About-dementia/What-is-dementia/Dementia-nu....
    1. Armstrong R., Hall B. J., Doyle J., Waters E. (2011). Scoping the scope of a cochrane review. Journal of Public Health, 33(1), 147–150. 10.1093/pubmed/fdr015 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Astell A. J., Ellis M. P., Bernardi L., Alm N., Dye R., Gowans G., Campbell J. (2010). Using a touch screen computer to support relationships between people with dementia and caregivers. Interacting with Computers, 22(4), 267–275. 10.1016/j.intcom.2010.03.003 - DOI
    1. Astell A. J., Joddrell P., Groenewoud H., de Lange J., Goumans M., Cordia A., Schikhof Y. (2016). Does familiarity affect the enjoyment of touchscreen games for people with dementia? International Journal of Medical Informatics, 91, e1–e8. 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2016.02.001 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types