The potential of time-assistive products to improve daily time management in persons with dementia: a randomised controlled trial

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of time-assistive products in supporting persons with mild to moderate dementia to achieve their time-related activity goals given their time processing ability. A multicentre single-blinded randomised controlled intervention study. A total of 73 persons with mild to moderate dementia aged ≥60 years were recruited through memory clinics across Sweden, of which 57 completed the three-month follow-up (intervention group <i>n</i> = 26, waiting list control group <i>n</i> = 31). The intervention group received individually prescribed time-assistive products. The primary outcome measure was the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Comparative analyses were done of the differences in COPM ratings at baseline and after three months within and between groups. KaTid-Senior was used to measure time processing ability. After three months, COPM ratings, adjusted for time processing ability, had significantly improved in the intervention group regarding satisfaction with performance (<i>p</i> = .028, ηp2 = 0.09) but not for performance (<i>p</i> = .053, ηp2 = 0.07). The change from the ratings at baseline to the ratings at 3 months was clinically significant in the intervention group as their improvement exceeded 2 points on a 10-point scale both for performance (mean 2.8, CI 1.8–3.7) and satisfaction with performance (mean 3.4, CI 2.3–4.6). Prescription of time-assistive products can support persons with mild to moderate dementia in their daily time management in relation to individual time-related goals. However, given the weak evidence base, further research is needed on the effectiveness of time-based assistive products for persons with dementia. Knowledge of how to remediate problems with daily time management in dementia is limited and there is a lack of randomised controlled trials on this subject.This study found that time-assistive products can support time-related activities for older adults with mild to moderate dementia.While time processing ability decreased over the study period, satisfaction with the performance of time-related activities increased in persons who received a time-assistive product compared to the control group.This study contributes to the knowledge on evidence-based time-related interventions for persons with dementia. Knowledge of how to remediate problems with daily time management in dementia is limited and there is a lack of randomised controlled trials on this subject. This study found that time-assistive products can support time-related activities for older adults with mild to moderate dementia. While time processing ability decreased over the study period, satisfaction with the performance of time-related activities increased in persons who received a time-assistive product compared to the control group. This study contributes to the knowledge on evidence-based time-related interventions for persons with dementia.