JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Subjective experiences of well-being, emotions, pain, and loneliness are a primary concern of persons living with Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease related dementias (AD/ADRD) and their caregivers. Reliable and valid measurement approaches are critical to quantifying these inner processes in treatment studies, but AD/ADRD produce substantial roadblocks to self-report measures of subjective experiences. Technological approaches to gathering passive sensing data about subjective experiences have recently been developed. A promise of passive sensors is their capacity to gather continuous information that could be used to understand within-person dynamics of subjective experiences, and ultimately to better personalize interventions to unique timings and contexts. While there is much enthusiasm about the potential for such measurement tools, there remain a number of challenges (and opportunities for innovation) to generate useful passive measurement tools in AD/ADRD. We briefly summarize some of these challenges and provide suggestions for future innovators in this area.