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Individuals with dementia can take pleasure in productive and rewarding working lives within the digital period, opposite to the widespread stereotype that dementia is incompatible with using fashionable expertise, in accordance with new analysis from the College of Tub.
The research, “Working lives with dementia: A digital futures perspective,” argues that the digital revolution dangers exacerbating inequalities amongst these with numerous wants however that organizations can and may develop, adapt and deploy digital expertise and the working atmosphere to assist these with dementia to proceed in employment. The analysis is revealed within the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.
“The bottom line is that we have an aging population and workforce in which dementia will feature and which should, and can be, accommodated by the judicious use of digital technology and adapting working conditions. The reality is, this is not dealt with in any meaningful way right now—there are very rarely strategies in place,” stated Dr. James Fletcher of the College of Tub Faculty of Administration.
“There is widespread prejudice that those with dementia cannot cope with, or benefit from, digital technology, and they often get bundled into the same category as the oldest people. But it’s worth putting some perspective on this—an experienced 60-year-old employee with early stage dementia will have grown up through the digital, internet and social media revolutions—and with the right support, they will still have much to offer,” Dr. Fletcher stated.
The research was revealed because the U.Okay. authorities introduced its welfare reform plans, a part of which is to encourage extra disabled folks into work. Dr. Fletcher stated he hoped the analysis could possibly be a helpful instance of the prospects and challenges of fulfilling that aim.
Dr. Fletcher famous that fairly easy changes to the working atmosphere, resembling bettering workstation lighting, utilizing applicable fonts and coloration schemes, and offering employees with calendars, voice-activated controls, and computerized reminders might make an enormous distinction for anyone identified with dementia.
“And AI offers really interesting opportunities—it is superb at solving many of the problems faced by those with dementia, such as finding words, organizing text and putting words in the right sequence. Couple that with the potential offered by hybrid working for those with dementia, and you can see the benefits for both employees and companies,” he stated.
Dr. Fletcher and his co-researcher Dr. Olivia Brown argue that dementia shouldn’t be inherently disabling and that its affect relies upon closely on the atmosphere and environment through which an worker is working. Employers would possibly contemplate, for instance, that an worker with dementia might be able to entry a constructing with a swipe card however could also be foiled if entry depends on codes that they’ve to recollect.
“We need to approach this in the way we already respond to people with diverse needs, which is already familiar to most employees. Also, there is a misplaced tendency to see a dementia diagnosis in black and white terms when the reality is, the effects can vary day-to-day and hour-to-hour depending on environment and relationships,” Dr. Brown stated.
Dr. Fletcher stated that workers might undergo large stress from a dementia prognosis and disclosing this to their employer, with some growing methods to hide their situation. He stated that, whereas we lack good statistics, it seems that the ‘overwhelming majority’ of these identified with dementia go into unemployment, typically unwillingly.
“There are many who could stay in the workforce and don’t. And this is not just an issue for older people—growing numbers of younger people are being diagnosed,” he stated.
The researchers famous that dementia is usually thought-about to be a post-retirement phenomenon, however estimates counsel that 9% of the 35.6 million folks worldwide with dementia are beneath 65 years of age, with round 370,000 new circumstances of younger onset dementia yearly.
Extra info:
James Rupert Fletcher et al, Working lives with dementia: A digital futures perspective, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology (2025). DOI: 10.1111/joop.70015
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College of Tub
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Digital expertise and AI can assist employees with dementia: New analysis (2025, March 27)
retrieved 27 March 2025
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