Electronic organiser and Alzheimer's disease: Fact or fiction?

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative disease characterised by a progressive loss of cognitive functions and impairment of activities of daily living severe enough to interfere with normal functioning. To help persons with this disease perform a variety of activities, our research team developed AP@LZ, an electronic organiser specifically designed for them. Two participants with Alzheimer's disease learned how to use AP@LZ in their daily lives by following a structured learning method. After the learning phase, the participants were able to use AP@LZ efficiently and facilitate their day-to-day activities for several months, despite the steady progression of the disease. These results suggest that persons with Alzheimer's disease can learn to use new technologies to compensate for their everyday memory problems, which opens up new rehabilitation possibilities in dementia care.

Keywords:

• Alzheimer's disease
• Assistive technologies
• Memory deficits
• Rehabilitation
• Activities of daily living

This research was supported by the Canadian Alzheimer Society (postdoctoral scholarship to H.I.) and the Fondation Vitae – CSSS-IUGS. The authors wish to thank P1, P2 and their families for their participation in this study.