Bringing the Assessment of Everyday Activities into the 21st Century

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) are no exceptions. Whether banking or shopping online, using a smartphone to stay in touch with friends or family, or using GPS to navigate, there are few daily activities that technology has not touched.  Despite the ubiquitous nature of technology use in daily tasks, current measures of daily activities used in large ADRD trials rely on items developed 4 to 5 decades ago. By not understanding and routinely measuring digital daily skills, we do not understand optimum environmental modifications that can help individuals compensate for cognitive decline, and we may not be measuring the skills most important to patients and family m embers of those living with ADRD. Thus, the thrust of these projects are to help us understand and update daily activity assessments for the modern age.  Through clinical, community, and advanced psychometric techniques, our group is helping to create “living measurements” of daily activity that can be sensitive, valid, and responsive to the real world digital functioning of those with or at risk for ADRD.

 

Funding: Alzheimer’s Association