title: A natural language-based presentation of cognitive stimulation to people with dementia in assistive technology: A pilot study.
abstract: Currently, an estimated 36 million people worldwide are affected by Alzheimer's disease or related dementias. In the absence of a cure, non-pharmacological interventions, such as cognitive stimulation, which slow down the rate of deterioration can benefit people with dementia and their caregivers. Such interventions have shown to improve well-being and slow down the rate of cognitive decline. It has further been shown that cognitive stimulation in interaction with a computer is as effective as with a human. However, the need to operate a computer often represents a difficulty for the elderly and stands in the way of widespread adoption. A possible solution to this obstacle is to provide a spoken natural language interface that allows people with dementia to interact with the cognitive stimulation software in the same way as they would interact with a human caregiver. This makes the assistive technology accessible to users regardless of their technical skills and provides a fully intuitive user experience. This article describes a pilot study that evaluated the feasibility of computer-based cognitive stimulation through a spoken natural language interface. Prototype software was evaluated with 23 users, including healthy elderly people and people with dementia. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
authors.affiliation: a School of Engineering and Computer Science , University of Hull , Hull , UK.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dethlefs
authors.affiliation: b Department of Clinical Neuropsychology , Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milders
authors.affiliation: c School of Computer Science, University of Lincoln , Brayford Pool, Lincoln , UK.
authors.forename: Heriberto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cuayáhuitl
authors.affiliation: d School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences , Heriot-Watt University , Edinburgh , Riccarton , UK.
authors.forename: Turkey
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Al-Salkini
authors.affiliation: e School of Life Sciences , Heriot-Watt University , Edinburgh , Riccarton , UK.
authors.forename: Lorraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Douglas
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009323:Natural Language Processing; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012656:Self-Help Devices; D012985:Software Design; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: Assistive technology; cognitive stimulation; dementia; natural language