What Remains? is a design research project that aims to stimulate positive behavioural changes in elderly affected by Dementia through game elements, and helps the family and staff to humanise and personalize care-home services.
What Remains when people’s lives are affected by severe stages of Dementia?
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia’s is affecting directly and indirectly millions of people worldwide. (Alzheimer’s disease international, 2015). Dementia is progressive over time, the symptoms are incurable and gradually get worse without chances of recovery.
Behavioural and functional impairment are the major causes of disability caused by dementia and it has a significant impact on the lives of affected individuals.
Detached from their present, their more recent memories, their abilities and their families, Dementia patients do not have the possibility to control their lives. The responsibilities fall back over their loved ones, care centres and on society
This project it has been extensively co-designed with people with dementia, moving beyond a traditional design approach of initial research followed by prototyping. Here people are not defined as mere ‘users’ but active participants in the design process. The thorough co-design-research process, consisting of interviews and building a relation of trust with patients, care-givers and relatives resulted in building an offline and online prototype. The first prototype comprises of two stages and two mixed-media tools, which both strictly depend on each other.
This project propose a positive engagement with dementia patients using personal visual information, which stimulates an high emotional involvement where people – especially the elderly’s relatives and caretakers – take an active role in the activity.
