Technology-aided pictorial cues to support the performance of daily activities by persons with moderate Alzheimer's disease

We developed a technology-aided intervention strategy relying on pictorial cues alone or in combination with verbal instructions and assessed these two versions of the strategy with three persons with moderate Alzheimer's disease. In Section I of the study, the strategy version with pictorial cues plus verbal instructions was compared with an existing technology-based strategy with verbal instructions. Each strategy was used with one specific activity. In Section II of the study, the strategy version with pictorial cues alone was compared with the aforementioned strategy with verbal instructions. Again, each strategy was used with one activity. Both strategy versions were effective with all three participants. The percentages of correct activity performance observed with those versions increased to above 90, and were comparable with those obtained with the existing verbal instructions strategy. A social validation assessment of the version with pictorial cues alone and the existing strategy with verbal instructions (employing university psychology students as raters) showed differences in favor of the latter strategy in terms of practicality and in favor of the former in terms of respect of participants’ dignity. The implications of the findings were discussed.

► We assessed a technology-aided intervention strategy using pictorial cues or pictorial cues together with verbal instructions.
► The two versions of the aforementioned strategy were compared with an existing verbal instructions strategy.
► The participants were three persons with moderate Alzheimer's disease.
► Both versions of the new strategy produced positive effects matching those of the verbal instructions strategy.