To support people with dementia and their caregivers, digital offerings will become increasingly important in the future. Flexible, independent of time and place, safe in times of Corona – these are the greatest advantages. However, Bavarian players in the dementia field consider the existing digital offerings to be rather inadequate. This is shown by a study by digiDEM Bavaria employee Michael Reichold M.Sc.
Reichold, a research associate at the Chair of Medical Informatics at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, and his colleagues investigated how healthcare providers in Bavaria assess the “care landscape” for dementia – both digital and traditional, non-digital. The background for this is the planning of the digiDEM Bayern online portal. One goal of the research project is to provide digital services for people with dementia and their caregivers that are as practical and helpful for everyday life as possible. To ensure that these can be developed to precisely fit the target group and their needs, an inventory was necessary: an evaluation of existing, known services by providers in the dementia field. This is because they are the ones who are regularly in contact with those affected and, on the other hand, are familiar with the current care landscape.
Providers from all seven administrative districts surveyed
For its study, the digiDEM Bavaria team surveyed nearly 100 service providers in the dementia sector between May and July 2019 – anonymously and online. These included outpatient and inpatient care facilities, as well as district offices and volunteer organizations from all seven Bavarian administrative districts. Participants were asked to evaluate services from five categories: Information, Counseling, Training, Exchange, and Intervention. For each category, the rating options were “very good,” “good,” “neither/nor,” “poor,” and “very poor.”.
Significant Gap in Digital Offerings
The results show a significant gap in digital offerings. The classic, non-digital services consistently performed better in the survey than the digital ones. Overall, only two categories received a rating of at least “good” from more than half of the participants: “non-digital information” and “non-digital advice.”.
Within the digital services, only the “Information” category was rated as at least “good” by almost half of the respondents. For all other categories, this proportion - rated as “good” or “very good” - was below 20 percent. The “digital consultation” and “digital intervention” categories performed the worst. With the exception of “digital information,” all categories were rated as “poor” or “very poor” by more than half of the participants.
Digital offerings provide numerous advantages
According to Reichold and his team, the survey results show that “there is still much to be done in Bavaria in the landscape of digital services for people with dementia.” The authors first address what, according to studies, prevents those affected from using non-digital services: for example, availability within a desired timeframe, long distances, or costs. The researchers contrast these obstacles with the advantages of digital offerings: they are available regardless of time, location, and personnel resources, and thus offer an important alternative in care, especially in rural areas.
Advantages of the planned digiDEM Bavaria offerings
The research team also addresses the specific offers for the online portal https://test.digidem-bayern.de/ are planned. For example, the website will offer opportunities for exchange – and thus provide a secure alternative to Facebook and Co. in the particularly sensitive area of data protection. And while the “digital interventions” category performed poorly in the survey, digiDEM Bayern is developing exactly such offers: on the one hand, an online training program for people with MCI (mild cognitive impairment) and dementia, and on the other hand, a so-called “risk traffic light” for caregivers that indicates their individual burden.
In their conclusion, Reichold and his team emphasize that digital services like digiDEM Bayern can improve healthcare and thus help bridge the gap between non-digital and digital services. “By involving the perspectives and expertise of those involved right from the start of the project [...] we increase the likelihood of successful implementation and enhance the utility and value of the aforementioned platform.” digiDEM Bayern can thus make its contribution to the digital future of dementia care, especially in rural areas.
Here you will find the complete study:
Stakeholder Perspectives on the Key Components of a Digital Service Platform Supporting Dementia – digiDEM Bavaria (June 2020)
