Interdisciplinary Design of an Electronic Organizer for Persons with Alzheimer's Disease

Because of cognitive problems, it is very difficult for individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) to manage their time. Consequently, they are dependent on their caregivers or use pen-and-paper organizers, both of which have limitations. A more interesting alternative could be an electronic organizer that optimizes the functional autonomy of persons with AD. This article describes the development of an electronic organizer called [email protected] by an interdisciplinary team of computer specialists and clinicians. The results show how knowledge of technology and knowledge of the cognitive capacities of persons with AD can be combined. A pre-experimental phase confirmed that [email protected] was easy to use by elderly participants.

[1]  Nathalie Bier,et al.  New learning in dementia: Transfer and spontaneous use of learning in everyday life functioning. Two case studies , 2008, Neuropsychological rehabilitation.

[2]  Jakob Nielsen,et al.  Usability engineering , 1997, The Computer Science and Engineering Handbook.

[3]  Tony Gentry,et al.  PDAs as cognitive aids for people with multiple sclerosis. , 2008, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

[4]  F. Craik,et al.  The Oxford handbook of memory , 2006 .

[5]  Karel Vredenburg,et al.  A survey of user-centered design practice , 2002, CHI.

[6]  J R Hodges,et al.  Intervening with Everyday Memory Problems in Dementia of Alzheimer Type: An Errorless Learning Approach , 2000, Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology.

[7]  Peter Gregor,et al.  A memory aid with remote communication: Preliminary findings , 2006 .

[8]  N. A. Hersh,et al.  NeuroPage: The Rehabilitation of Memory Dysfunction by Prosthetic Memory and Cueing. , 1994, NeuroRehabilitation.

[9]  J. Evans,et al.  Reducing everyday memory and planning problems by means of a paging system: a randomised control crossover study , 2001, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[10]  R. Logie,et al.  Prospective and retrospective memory in normal aging and dementia: An experimental study , 2002, Memory & cognition.

[11]  G. Frisoni,et al.  An electronic memory aid to support prospective memory in patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease: A pilot study , 2003, Aging & mental health.

[12]  Hélène Pigot,et al.  Étude de convivialité de l’utilisation d’un agenda électronique par des personnes souffrant de schizophrénie , 2008 .

[13]  E. Salmon,et al.  Compensating strategies for impaired episodic memory and time orientation in a patient with Alzheimer's disease. , 2005, Acta neurologica Belgica.

[14]  Kathleen Bodisch Lynch,et al.  Personal digital assistants as cognitive aids for individuals with severe traumatic brain injury: A community-based trial , 2008, Brain injury.

[15]  Isabelle Rouleau,et al.  Compensation des troubles de la mémoire prospective par l'utilisation du carnet de mémoire , 2006 .

[16]  M. Dubé,et al.  Normalisation du Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) chez les Québécois francophones âgés de 65 ans et plus et résidant dans la communauté* , 2009, Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement.

[17]  S. Folstein,et al.  "Mini-mental state". A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. , 1975, Journal of psychiatric research.

[18]  P. Sargent.  Two case studies , 1972 .