Visual Mapping Assistive Technology Can Help Individuals with Dementia and Their Caregivers Successfully Complete Activities of Daily Living and Enhance Quality of Life

NIH Caregiving Summit-March 2020 | In this peer reviewed study, we were able to show that visual mapping is a preferred method among health care professionals.

OVERVIEW: In providing information to memory-impaired individuals, a standard practice has been to use paragraphs of descriptive text. We asked whether pictorial approaches (visual maps) might be more helpful.

METHOD: 380 healthcare professionals were shown two ways of providing information to memory-impaired individuals: A series of text paragraphs describing a planned visit to the movies, and the same episode depicted using a vertical series of pictures.

CONCLUSION: Visual maps were viewed as more effective by most healthcare professionals.

‍