ORCID

Abstract

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) are vital to maintaining quality of life among People Living with Dementia (PLwD), whose cognitive impairment often impacts independence in daily activities. This paper presents smart home automation “recipes” that can assist ADLs, particularly bathing—safely one of the most complex due to safety risks like falls and burns. The automation recipes incorporate open-interface sensors, motion detection, and real-time alerts, with features targeted at dementia progression stages.Interventions at early stages include voice reminders and water temperature automatic adjustments; middle-stage features include safety reminders, activity-based inactivity detection, and water shut-off; caregiver-aided monitoring forms the interventions at late stages. The ergonomically and cognitively designed intuitive dashboard of the system allows caregivers to easily select and customize automation sequences based on special needs.Central design elements— e.g., large touch-sensitive buttons, high contrast screens, and voice-controlled commands—encourage use by both caregivers and PLwD. By facilitating safer, more independent bathing and reducing the need for constant supervision, the system reduces caregiver burden. Human factors and ergonomics are central to making such solutions practical, accessible, and effective for dementia care in the home.

Keywords

Activities of daily living (ADL), People living with dementia (PLwD), Sensors, Smart home technologies, Stage based automation recipes

Publication Date

2025-01-01

Publication Title

Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics International

Volume

162

Publisher

AHFE International

ISSN

2771-0718

First Page

50

Last Page

61

Deposit Date

2026-07-23

Funding

This material is based on works supported by Research Ireland under Grant no 22/NCF/OT/1124119/FFP/6917 and ADAPT Centre’s 13/RC/2106_P2.

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