Are social networks exclusionary for people with Alzheimer’s disease? Added to the amnesia of some are the new techniques to assimilate in order to continue communicating with loved ones. Many patients lose their footing and give up, unable to keep up with the pace of updates.
A member of the Reddit online forum r/dementia, wishing to remain anonymous, explained to The Atlantic that “[son] father sent a lot of emails and used a site called Friends Reunited to reminisce about the past and reconnect with old acquaintances. […] His PC is now unused.”
Some patients even adopt dangerous behaviors. Amy Evans, a 62-year-old resident of Sacramento, California, also tells her father’s story. His dementia taking over more and more space, “he began responding to fraudulent emails and ordering, among other things, Xanax from India.” To help him, she bought him a GrandPad, a touchscreen tablet intended for seniors. A vain attempt: impossible for his father to memorize how to use it.
Alzheimer’s disease and the digital accessibility of people affected by it constitute a health issue that concerns a significant part of the population. According to the Alzheimer’s Association 2024 report, the neurodegenerative disease affects approximately 7 million Americans over the age of 65. In France, the Pasteur Institute estimated in 2023 that 900,000 people would be affected.
“It’s a vicious cycle,” comments Joel Salinas, assistant professor of neurology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. According to him, the cognitive degeneration caused by dementia creates a social disconnection which, in turn, promotes cognitive degeneration. The challenge for patients is therefore simple: preserve their social ties via the means of communication…
Yet,…
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