Page 155 - Petelin, Ana, ur. 2021. Zdravje starostnikov / Health of the Elderly. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo / Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
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s that help elderly with dementia tehnološke in ostale ikt rešitve | technological an ict solutions
Adriana Kozina, Valentina Rok, Andrej Starc
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction. In the year 2018 it was estimated that at the global level were 50
million patients diagnosed with dementia, and the cost of their treatment had
risen to over one billion US dollars. With the growth of the elderly population,
that number shall only grow higher in the future. Research shows that specific
mobile apps on smart devices could be used to help patients with dementia.
The usage could reduce the financial cost of this illness, also. On average elder-
ly people do not have satisfactory knowledge for the usage of the apps, and de-
mentia influences their cognitive functions.
Methods. We used a descriptive method with critical analysis of English scien-
tific literature with the usage of databases Cochrane Library, Google Scholar,
PubMed, ScienceDirect and Wiley Online Library. The keywords used were:
apps for dementia, apps for elderly with dementia, apps for dementia preven-
tion. Between the words was used the Boolean logical operator AND. We in-
cluded the literature from the 2013 and 2020 years, which were free and ful-
ly accessible.
Results. We detected 1140 articles after the inclusion of all criteria. Only 8 sci-
entific articles met the inclusion criteria and talked about apps for patients with
dementia which were included in this analysis. In the smart mobile market-
place, exist several mobile apps, which are used for: diagnosing people with
dementia, preventive usage for developing dementia, enhancing cognitive func-
tions and apps for helping with everyday activities. Most free and accessible us-
age apps do not cover all the specific needs of people diagnosed with demen-
tia. We expect that in the near future, there shall be a rise in such mobile apps.
Discussion and conclusions. Based on the appropriate design and the technol-
ogy, app’s could be designed for better physical, mental and social aspects of
persons diagnosed with dementia. Mobile apps that are used for preventive
strengthening of cognitive functions or for control and slowing the progress
of dementia have proved to be an adequate tool for quick and efficient as-
sessment of dementia. The development of such apps is crucial for healthcare
workers as well as technological scientists and patients. More research should
be done in relation to app efficiency and to adjustments of their functions for
the specific patients needs.
Keywords: Apps for dementia, elderly with dementia, apps for elderly with
dementia

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