The provision of assistive technology products and services for people with dementia in the United Kingdom

• Published in: Dementia (London, England) Vol. 15; no. 4; pp. 681 - 701
• Main Authors: Gibson, Grant, Newton, Lisa, Pritchard, Gary, Finch, Tracy, Brittain, Katie, Robinson, Louise
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.07.2016
• Subjects: Dementia - therapy; Health Services Accessibility; Humans; Needs Assessment; Self-Help Devices - economics; Self-Help Devices - statistics & numerical data; Telemedicine - economics; Telemedicine - statistics & numerical data; United Kingdom; assistive technology; dementia; United Kingdom; information provision; telecare
• ISSN: 1471-3012; 1741-2684; 1741-2684
• DOI: 10.1177/1471301214532643

In this review we explore the provision of assistive technology products and services currently available for people with dementia within the United Kingdom. A scoping review of assistive technology products and services currently available highlighted 171 products or product types and 331 services. In addition, we assimilated data on the amount and quality of information provided by assistive technology services alongside assistive technology costs. We identify a range of products available across three areas: assistive technology used ‘by’, ‘with’ and ‘on’ people with dementia. Assistive technology provision is dominated by ‘telecare’ provided by local authorities, with services being subject to major variations in pricing and information provision; few currently used available resources for assistive technology in dementia. We argue that greater attention should be paid to information provision about assistive technology services across an increasingly mixed economy of dementia care providers, including primary care, local authorities, private companies and local/national assistive technology resources.