Digital technology and AI can support workers with dementia: a new study

A new study from Bath University shows that, contrary to the widespread stereotype that dementia is incompatible with the use of modern technology, people with dementia can enjoy a productive and rewarding working life in the digital age.

A study called “Life Life with Dementia: Digital Futures Perspective” argues that while the digital revolution jeopardizes worsening inequality among people with diverse needs, organizations need to develop, adapt and deploy digital technologies and the workplace environment. This study has been published in the Journal of Acupational and Organizational Psychology.

“The bottom line is that there is an aging group and workforce characterized by dementia, and should and can respond to the wise use of digital technology and adaptation of working conditions. The reality is that this is not addressed in the present sense.

“There is a widespread bias that people with dementia cannot cope with or benefit from digital technology, and often fall into the same category as the oldest people, but this is worth putting some perspective.

The study was published as the UK government published its welfare reform plan. Part of this is encouraging more people with disabilities to work. Dr. Fletcher said he hopes the study will serve as a useful example of the prospects and challenges to achieve its goals.

Dr. Fletcher noted that it is possible to make very simple adjustments to the work environment, including improving workstation lighting, using appropriate fonts and color schemes, providing calendars, voice activation controls, and providing automatic reminders to workers.

“And AI offers a very interesting opportunity, which is great for solving many of the problems faced by people with dementia, such as finding words, organizing texts, and putting words in the correct sequence.

Dr. Fletcher and his co-researcher, Dr. Olivia Brown, argue that dementia is not inherently a disorder and that its impact is heavily dependent on the environment and surroundings that employees run. Employers may think that, for example, an employee with dementia may have access to the building with a swipe card, but that it may be hampered if access relies on a code that needs to be remembered.

“We need to approach this in a way that already addresses people with diverse needs that are already well known to most employees, and we are misguided in the tendency to see a diagnosis of dementia in black and white terms when reality is real.

Dr. Fletcher said employees suffer tremendous stress from their dementia diagnosis and could disclose this to their employers, and there are several development strategies to hide the condition. He said that although we lack good statistics, it appears that the “majority” of people diagnosed with dementia often falls unemployed.

“There are a lot of people who can stay in the workforce, and this is more than just a problem for older people. Many young people have been diagnosed,” he said.

Researchers said that dementia is often considered a post-retirement phenomenon, but estimates that 9% of the 35.6 million people worldwide are under the age of 65, with around 370,000 new cases of new onset dementia per year.