Intelligent Home Care for Dementia: Reinforcement Learning-based Conversational System for Personalized Support

In the Netherlands, an estimated 290,000 people are currently living with dementia. Only a relatively small portion of them — around 80,000 — reside in nursing or care homes. Due to an aging population and increasing pressure on the healthcare workforce, the number of people with dementia is expected to rise further in the coming years, while the shortage of caregivers continues to grow.

To address this societal challenge, it is essential to support people with early-stage dementia in living independently at home for as long as possible. In this project, researchers and partners are developing an intelligent, voice-controlled home care system to support that goal. Using artificial intelligence, the system helps maintain a daily routine, offering reminders to eat, drink, or take medication.

With the help of just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAI), the system is tailored to each user’s needs and preferences. Through conversation—possibly combined with text, images or music—it provides personalized support at the right moment. This helps users maintain structure in their day and offers practical support to informal caregivers and family members.

The project will generate valuable insights into the design, development, and testing of AI-driven healthcare interventions at home. By aligning technology more closely with the needs of users, the innovation contributes to better quality of care while easing the burden on both informal caregivers and healthcare professionals.

€331.428,- Will be used as a PPP program grant.