Application of a Tactile Way-Finding Device to Facilitate Navigation in Persons With Dementia

Persons with dementias, such as Alzheimer's disease, have well‐documented deficiencies in way-finding, which often renders these individuals house bound and/or unable to perform daily activities without significant frustrations. A wearable belt has recently been developed that may have the capability to facilitate navigation for this population. Through a series of four small, vibrating motors that are adjusted to the cardinal positions of front, back, right, and left, the belt provides wearers with a tactile signal indicating the direction to their destination. In this experiment, the applicability of the way-finding signals to persons with dementia was assessed. To do so, participants walked a series of routes through the corridors of a hospital while wearing the belt. The results suggest the way-finding belt has potential as a navigation aid for individuals with dementia. The participants displayed a few deficiencies in attending to the directional signals that led to way-finding errors in which the signal was ignored and the intended turn not made. The article concludes with recommendations that the system of signal delivery be modified in a way that captures and directs the wearer's focus more prominently to the vibrotactile stimulus.