Exploring the Role of Sex and Gender in the Adoption of Assistive Technology in Dementia Care: A Scoping Review.

Given that women are disproportionately affected by dementia on several levels and assistive technology (AT) is increasingly used to manage the care of the growing number of people with dementia (PwD), there is an urgent need to understand the role of sex and gender regarding adoption of AT in dementia care. We conducted a scoping review following the framework of Arksey and O'Malley. All identified topics of sex and gender analysis (compatibility, attitude, usage, acceptance, access, usefulness, and well-being) were related to AT adoption, where the majority revealed sex and gender differences. Relevance of topics is discussed in relation to generation, culture, and mental health, including a switch of perspective to the gender of the technology. Even though we demonstrated sex and gender differences in AT adoption, their practical implications need to be further elaborated on in future research.