Assistive products to support daily time management of older persons with dementia in India: experiences and views of informal caregivers and occupational therapists

Abstract

Purpose

The present study aimed to understand how informal caregivers and occupational therapists support daily time management (DTM) of older persons with dementia (PwD) and their views regarding assistive products for DTM, i.e., time management products (TMPs).

Methods

The study involved a qualitative descriptive approach rooted in principles of naturalistic inquiry. Twelve caregivers of PwD and eight occupational therapists were interviewed. Conventional content analysis was performed.

Results

Findings are described in three categories. The first category “current strategies to support DTM” described the low-tech strategies used for specific cognitive functions. The second category “factors influencing DTM and TMP” entailed factors related to the PwD (especially premorbid time management), the caregiver (multiple caregivers, attitude towards technology), the occupational therapist (impairment-oriented practice, limited resources and training in DTM) and the context (attitude towards time, poor awareness and knowledge of dementia, an expectation of recovery, negative societal attitudes towards devices, affordability/access). The third category “expectations from TMP” described the participants’ expectations regarding device-related features (low-cost, easy to use, portable, low maintenance, customisable and useable across the disease continuum) and support for device use (maintenance, caregiver education).

Conclusions

The study provides contextually relevant recommendations and strategies to inform the provision, acceptance and adherence to DTM interventions and guide the development and prescription of indigenous TMP for PwD in India.

Implications for rehabilitation

• Adoption of time management products (TMPs) for people with dementia in India requires an understanding of contextual factors, especially culturally influenced attitudes of persons with dementia and their family members towards time, assistive products and elders.

• Contextually relevant approaches and strategies are suggested to guide the provision of daily time management (DTM) interventions including TMPs for people with dementia and their families in India.

• It is imperative to assess the relevance, acceptance and feasibility of available TMPs for people with dementia and their families living in India and develop contextually relevant indigenous products.

• Occupational therapists working with people with dementia and their families would benefit from more opportunities for training and access to resources (including contextually relevant standardized assessments) to implement DTM interventions.

Keywords:

• Daily time management
• time management products
• assistive products
• dementia
• caregivers
• occupational therapists
• Indian context

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge that the present study is part of a research project funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research under Grant number 54/1/GER/Indo-Sweden/17-NCD-II.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Data availability statement

Data will be made available on request.

Additional information

Funding

The present study is part of a research project funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (54/1/GER/Indo-Sweden/17-NCD-II).