Testing Effectiveness of a Mobile App for Assessment of Dementia Symptoms

The Regenstrief Institute's Daniel Bateman has received a career development award from the U.S. National Institute on Aging to test the feasibility and utility of Brain CareNotes, a mobile app for improving care for people with Alzheimer's, reports Medical Xpress . Brain CareNotes is designed to assess and manage the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, which can include depression, anxiety, hallucinations, agitation, and apathy. The study Bateman will conduct involves caregivers paired with people with Alzheimer's randomly placed in two cohorts. One will receive usual care at the Healthy Aging Brain Center at Eskenazi Health, while the other group will receive usual care plus the Brain CareNotes app. Caregivers in the first cohort will receive prompts on their phone to fill out a symptom questionnaire — and if the answers reach a designated threshold of concern, the caregivers will be alerted and follow up via a phone call, a message, or other form of communication. "Healthcare is moving mobile," Bateman says. "There are never going to be enough providers to manage the number of people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, which is only going to increase. We hope the Brain CareNotes app will maximize each geriatrics care worker's ability to make an impact and improve care."