Background: Interactive smart home systems are particularly useful for people with cognitive impairment.
Objective: To investigate the long-term effects of Assistive Technology (AT) combined with tailored non-pharmacological interventions for people with cognitive impairment.
Methods: 18 participants (12 with mild cognitive impairment and 6 with Alzheimer's disease) took part in the study that we evenly allocated in one of three groups: 1) experimental group (EG), 2) control group 1 (CG1), and 3) control group 2 (CG2). EG received the system installed at home for 4 to 12 months, during which they received tailored non-pharmacological interventions according to system observations. CG1 received tailored interventions for the same period, but only according to state-of-the-art self-reporting methods. Finally, CG2 neither had a system installation nor received interventions. All groups underwent neuropsychological assessment before and after the observational period.
Results: After several months of continuously monitoring at home and deployment of tailored interventions, the EG showed statistically significant improvement in cognitive function, compared to the CG1 and CG2. Moreover, EG participants, who received the sensor-based system, have shown improvement in domains such as sleep quality and daily activity, as measured by the multi-sensor system. In addition, the feedback collected from the participants concludes that the long-term use of the multi-sensor system by people with cognitive impairment can be both feasible and beneficial.
Conclusion: Deploying a sensor-based system at real home settings of people with cognitive limitations living alone and maintaining its use long-term is not only possible, but also beneficial for clinical decision making in order to tackle cognitive, functional, and behavioral related problems.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; assistive technology; mild cognitive impairment; non-pharmacological interventions; patient engagement; remote monitoring; smart homes.