UA Nets $1.6M to Develop Touch-Screen Tech for Dementia Patients

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has awarded researchers from the University of Alabama (UA) and Florida International University $1.6 million to develop touchscreen technology to improve communication between dementia patients and caregivers, reports Patch . UA School of Social Work Professor Nicole Ruggiano announced that people with dementia often struggle to communicate about their daily care and symptoms, which can cause "care-resistant behaviors" misunderstood by caregivers. The technology to be funded will resemble the sensory and communication boards used for students with autism. "It'll be a customizable tablet with all the things the person really likes — pictures of their favorite foods, their favorite clothing," Ruggiano noted. "So, when caregivers are engaging with them, if they have trouble with words or confusion due to cognition problems, it'll make caregiving activities a lot easier." Ruggiano also will create a resource database for dementia care across Alabama using a $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, along with a group of UA computer science faculty. She cited the current lack of a standard database or resource repository, and the planned database would require crowdsourced data from caregivers and providers.