The ethical issues linked to the use of assistive technology in
dementia care This report is about the ethical issues linked to
the use of assistive technology for or by people with dementia.
We will therefore start in section 1.1 by explaining what
dementia is, covering different perspectives and ways of
understanding dementia. As dementia is, amongst other things, a
potential disability, we will then briefly examine different
approaches to understanding disability and make the distinction
between impairment and disability. Accepting that dementia is a
potential disability means recognising the potential benefits of
assistive technology in helping prevent or minimise the impact
of impairment on the daily lives of people with dementia. From a
medical perspective Dementia is defined in the DSM-IV  and DSM-
IV Text Revision as a syndrome characterised by the development
of multiple cognitive deficits including memory impairment
accompanied by at least aphasia, apraxia, agnosia or a
disturbance in executive funct