THURSDAY, Nov. 18, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Despite stereotypes about seniors and technology, a small study suggests that older adults in the early stages of dementia can use smartphone apps as memory aids.
The researchers found that older people with mild impairments in memory and thinking were not only able to learn how to use the apps, they said the digital aids made their daily lives easier.
The apps were not specially designed. The study tested the effects of two basic smartphone features: a reminder app that gives notifications of a scheduled event and a digital recorder app (such as the voice memo app on iPhones).
“We weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel,” said lead researcher Michael Scullin, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
For the 52 older adults in the study, both types of apps turned out to be user-friendly, and helped with remembering daily tasks. By the end of the four-week trial, participants were giving higher ratings to their quality of life.
“We were pleased to see that it actually improved their daily lives,” Scullin said.
It did take some coaching. Each participant was given a training session not only in using the app, but the smartphone, too.
Scullin said most had owned a smartphone prior to the study, but typically did not use it much.
“Maybe that was because no one had ever walked them through the steps,” he said.
Scullin’s team started with the basics — including how to turn the phone on — and then progressed to lessons on the phone’s standard memory-aid app.
“It’s not ‘too hard’ for them to learn,” Scullin said.
There may be a stereotype that older adults are adverse to technology. But that’s a myth, according to Dr. Howard Fillit, founding executive director of the nonprofit Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.
“I don’t think the data show that older adults can’t or don’t want to use technology,” said Fillit, who was not involved in the study.
For one, he noted, many seniors see technology as a way to stay socially engaged.
But beyond that, Fillit said, there is growing interest in using digital technology to support older adults’ health — the Apple Watch, and its ability to detect certain heart arrhythmias, being one example.
And, in fact, Fillit said, research is already underway to develop digital technologies that can help detect Alzheimer’s sooner, by collecting data on users’ behavior and mental performance.
Part of what’s noteworthy about the new study, according to Fillit, is the …….