Comparing proxy-reported agitation and sensor-based activity metrics in response to dynamic lighting during dementia sundowning hours

One of the symptoms of dementia which can cause high levels of strain is agitation. This is most apparent in the evening as the sun sets; a phenomenon termed ‘sundowning’. One possible way to alleviate sundowning is to ensure that an individual’s body clock is closely aligned with the 24 hour dark/light cycle. In
the absence of daylight, this research has shifted towards the use of daylight-simulating, dynamic lighting. This paper summarises the 16-week trial of a dynamic lighting and sensing technology with 11 residents living with dementia in a care home. Under exposure to 4 weeks of baseline lighting vs 12 weeks of dynamic lighting, care staff were asked to complete a wellbeing questionnaire which was inclusive of agitation measurements. Radar sensors were used to monitor rest-activity, and data analyses completed during sundowning hours to make a comparison of proxy-reported and sensor-based metrics. The authors found that there does not seem to be any statistically significant impact to agitation for this cohort after dynamic lighting exposure. Although a small scale
pilot, the authors found initial evidence to suggest that the radar sensors can depict the proxy-rated agitation on a group level but need more refinement to represent individual variations.