Remotely measured in-home distance from care recipient predicts dementia caregivers’ loneliness

Abstract Caregivers (CGs) of a family member with dementia often experience increased loneliness, which can result from reduced social interactions and increased physical distancing associated with care recipient’s (CR) disease progression. Through a university-industry collaboration, we developed new technology for measuring physical distance remotely. CGs and CRs wore watches that monitored their location in the home using low-energy Bluetooth technology that enabled long battery life (up to four months). Using measures of proximity of the watches to three plug-in Bluetooth receivers located in the home, we assessed CG-CR physical distance on a second-by-second basis over a six-month period. Participants were 27 CRs diagnosed with dementia or mild cognitive impairment and their co-residing familial CGs. CG loneliness was measured by questionnaire at the beginning and end of the study. Both watches and receivers were remotely installed (by CGs). Results indicated that CG-CR physical distance increased from the first three months to the last three months of the study (t = 20.67, p < 0.001). In addition, greater increases in CG-CR physical distance over the six-month period were associated with greater increases in CG loneliness (r = 0.46, p = 0.03). These results advance our understanding of how increases in physical distancing between CGs and CRs contribute to increased CG loneliness (a well-established risk factor for depression and other mental health symptoms). The study also underscores the value of remote technologies that allow for in-home long-term monitoring for research on interpersonal distance and other social behaviors in CG-CR and other aging dyads.