Identifying digital solutions for people with dementia (PwD) : Lessons learned from a Swedish dementia care residence

Background: With the ongoing rise of the elderly population and the subsequent number of dementia cases, digital technologies are often appearing to support people with dementia in their daily living activities. However, the majority of scientific literature tends to focus mostly on these digital technologies as sole solutions. Objective: Real-life implementations can be successful if we have a better understanding of the social, environmental, and technical aspects combined. Hence, this article reports a case study conducted in a Swedish dementia care residence to identify possible digital technologies’ needs. Method: A case study was conducted in a Swedish dementia care residence. Results: The results show that even though digital technologies are crucial in supporting both staff and residents, digital technologies alone cannot address the complex needs identified within the residence. Conclusion: For the digital technologies to be effective, they need to be integrated into the dementia care residence’s work processes and the capabilities of the current design of the property hosting the residence. Thus maintaining a socio-technical rather than a techno-centric perspective