For Those With Dementia, Help From Technology

Technology promises to make it easier for people with dementia to live independently for longer and stay connected with family and friends. Home sensors, communications and personal navigational devices--some of which are already commercially available--provide ways to monitor patients and loved ones from afar. Robotics, smartphone apps and some intriguing experiments with tablet computers, meanwhile, show the potential to help sufferers of dementia sustain their social and family contacts. Help can't come soon enough. An estimated 50 million people world-wide suffer from dementia, according to the World Health Organization--a number that is expected to rise exponentially as the global population ages.