Developing an integrated virtual assistant (IVA): A tailored behavior tracking and reminder solution to assist persons with dementia and their caregivers

Project Summary Abstract Recent attempts to estimate early stage prevalence of early stage dementia in the United States suggest that as much asof the population over the age ofmay be living with early stage diseaseIn early stagefunction lossparticularly in the memory domainsignificantly impacts instrumental activities of livingIADLsuch as responsibility for own medications and schedulingSolutions are needed that can adapt to the person with dementia and their caregiver through disease progressiontailor the level of support offered based on the changing needs of the dyadand facilitate more time spent safely aging in placeIn this projectan integrated virtual assistantIVAwill serve as the interface between persons with dementiaPWDtheir caregiversand a suite of smart home technologies to provide aging in place supportOur long term goal is to develop and commercialize IVAa behavior tracking and reminder solution that will integrate smart home sensorsvoice activationand Artificial IntelligenceAIinto an easy to use application that provides tailored assistance to PWD and their caregivers as a dyadThe broader impact of these technologies is more time spent safely aging in placebetter informed caregiversand a reduction in caregiver burden and strain Project Narrative In early stage dementiafunction lossparticularly in the memory domainsignificantly impacts instrumental activities of livingIADLsuch as responsibility for own medications and schedulingSolutions are needed that can adapt to the person with dementia and their caregiver through disease progressiontailor the level of support offered based on the changing needs of the dyadand facilitate more time spent safely aging in placeOur goal is to develop an integrated virtual assistantIVAa behavior tracking and reminder solution that will integrate smart home sensorsvoice activationand Artificial IntelligenceAIinto an easy to use application that provides tailored assistance to PWD and their caregivers as a dyad