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Ethical issues associated with assistive technologies for persons living with dementia and their caregivers – An overview of reviews
Anthony Scerri, Frederik Schou‐Juul, Rosa Carla Gomes da Silva, Rodrigo Serrat, Adrienne Grech, Gabija Jarašiūnaitė–Fedosejeva, Montserrat Celdrán, Elżbieta Trypka et al.. Dementia, 2025-05-15
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Assistive technologies hold significant potential to enhance the quality of life for persons with dementia and their caregivers by addressing key concerns related to safety, independence, and social inclusion. Although ethical issues surrounding the design and use of assistive technologies have been explored in various studies, no comprehensive overview of reviews has been conducted to synthesize the existing evidence on these issues. This study aims to categorize the ethical issues associated with assistive technologies for persons with dementia and their caregivers using established ethical principles, while also examining factors shaping the ethical debate on their design and implementation. The study was conducted across nine databases and included reviews published in the past 20 years that substantially addressed ethical considerations. Data synthesis followed the framework synthesis approach developed by Carroll et al. (2011). Out of 509 identified records, 15 reviews focusing significantly on ethical issues were included in the analysis. Findings revealed key ethical issues, including maintaining autonomy, respecting privacy, and addressing equity and accessibility. While assistive technologies demonstrate potential in enhancing safety and independence, concerns about surveillance, depersonalization, and stigmatization persist. The ethical debate is shaped by contextual, philosophical, temporal, and geographical factors, including varying stakeholder priorities, the fluctuating nature of dementia symptoms, diverse approaches to dementia care and ethics, cultural differences, and the implications of future technological advancements. This review underscores the complexity of ethical issues related to assistive technologies for dementia care and how these identified factors inform the ethical design and their use for persons with dementia and their caregivers.
Key findings
- Assistive technologies hold significant potential to enhance the quality of life for persons with dementia and their caregivers by addressing key concerns related to safety, independence, and social inclusion.
- This study aims to categorize the ethical issues associated with assistive technologies for persons with dementia and their caregivers using established ethical principles, while also examining factors shaping the ethical debate on their design and implementation.
- Out of 509 identified records, 15 reviews focusing significantly on ethical issues were included in the analysis.
- Findings revealed key ethical issues, including maintaining autonomy, respecting privacy, and addressing equity and accessibility.
Why it matters
This overview of reviews categorized ethical issues with assistive technologies for people with dementia and their caregivers, including autonomy, privacy, equity, surveillance, depersonalization, and stigmatization. It addresses ethical concerns about technologies and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 39/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Dementia) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Dementia: journal h-index 92 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 4 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 1.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 7.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 4 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Sigurd Lauridsen: h-index 13 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Universitat de Barcelona: institution h-index 1,049 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 3 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 10 institution(s) in 8 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40372198) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Scerri, A., Schou‐Juul, F., da Silva, R. C. G., Serrat, R., Grech, A., Jarašiūnaitė–Fedosejeva, G., et al. (2025). Ethical issues associated with assistive technologies for persons living with dementia and their caregivers – An overview of reviews. Dementia. https://doi.org/10.1177/14713012251341374
Vancouver
Scerri A, Schou‐Juul F, da Silva RCG, Serrat R, Grech A, Jarašiūnaitė–Fedosejeva G, et al. Ethical issues associated with assistive technologies for persons living with dementia and their caregivers – An overview of reviews. Dementia. 2025. doi:10.1177/14713012251341374. PMID: 40372198.
BibTeX
@article{scerri2025-40372198,
author = {Scerri, Anthony and Schou‐Juul, Frederik and da Silva, Rosa Carla Gomes and Serrat, Rodrigo and Grech, Adrienne and Jarašiūnaitė–Fedosejeva, Gabija and Celdrán, Montserrat and Trypka, Elżbieta and others},
title = {{Ethical issues associated with assistive technologies for persons living with dementia and their caregivers – An overview of reviews}},
journal = {Dementia},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1177/14713012251341374},
pmid = {40372198},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/14713012251341374}
}
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