title: Persons with mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease use a basic orientation technology to travel to different rooms within a day center.
abstract: This study assessed whether three patients with Alzheimer's disease could learn to use a basic orientation technology to reach different rooms within a day center. At each travel instance, the technology provided verbal messages (cues) from the room to reach. For the first two patients, the messages were presented at intervals of about 15s. For the third patient (who had more extensive orientation problems), shorter intervals combined with the voice of the research assistant were initially used. Results showed that all three patients were successful in using the technology to orient their travel and find the rooms correctly. A social validation assessment, in which university psychology students were asked to rate the patients' travel performance with the technology and with the help of a caregiver, provided generally higher (more positive) scores for the technology-assisted performance. The implications of the findings for daily programs of patients with Alzheimer's disease are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bari, Bari, Italy. g.lancioni@psico.uniba.it
authors.forename: Giulio E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Lancioni
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Perilli
authors.forename: Nirbhay N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Mark F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: O'Reilly
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sigafoos
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bosco
authors.forename: Maria Fara
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: De Caro
authors.forename: Germana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cassano
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minervini
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003463:Cues; D003631:Day Care, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012682:Sensory Aids; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016138:Walking / Q000523:psychology*