Reminiscence of People with Dementia Mediated by a Tangible Multimedia Book

With the growing senior population the number of people with dementia is rising rapidly. Besides – currently limited– pharmaceutical treatments, psychosocial interventions play a major role in ensuring the life quality for people with dementia. Among these is reminiscence therapy, which helps people to remember episodes of their past life and maintain their identity, while the disease progresses. The research presented in this paper explores the role of a tangible multimedia artifact to support reminiscence sessions. We describe the development of an interactive book that was tested in a care home with people with dementia and caregivers. We present findings on the interaction with the book, its potential to mediate reminiscence and communication, and on the perspective of caregivers using the book in the sessions.

[1]  Carol Brayne,et al.  Systematic reviews on behavioural and psychological symptoms in the older or demented population , 2012, Alzheimer's Research & Therapy.

[2]  Patrick Olivier,et al.  Enabling self, intimacy and a sense of home in dementia: an enquiry into design in a hospital setting , 2012, CHI.

[3]  Panote Siriaraya,et al.  Recreating living experiences from past memories through virtual worlds for people with dementia , 2014, CHI.

[4]  Norman Alm,et al.  Engaging multimedia leisure for people with dementia , 2009 .

[5]  D. Casey,et al.  Drugs for Alzheimer's disease: are they effective? , 2010, P & T : a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management.

[6]  Ivan Poupyrev,et al.  The MagicBook: a transitional AR interface , 2001, Comput. Graph..

[7]  M. Powell Lawton,et al.  Interventions in dementia care : toward improving quality of life , 2000 .

[8]  T. Kitwood,et al.  Towards a Theory of Dementia Care: Personhood and Well-being , 1992, Ageing and Society.

[9]  M. Gatz,et al.  Psychosocial interventions for individuals with dementia: an integration of theory, therapy, and a clinical understanding of dementia. , 2000, Clinical psychology review.

[10]  Margrit Schreier,et al.  Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice , 2012 .

[11]  Magnus Nilsson,et al.  Nostalgia: an evocative tangible interface for elderly users , 2003, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[12]  George Demiris,et al.  A Systematic Review of the Use of Technology for Reminiscence Therapy , 2014, Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education.

[13]  Bodil Jönsson,et al.  The extended television: Using tangible computing to meet the needs of older persons at a nursing home , 2008 .

[14]  Wendy Wood,et al.  Dying of boredom: an exploratory case study of time use, apparent affect, and routine activity situations on two Alzheimer's special care units. , 2009, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

[15]  Norman Alm,et al.  Designing a multimedia conversation aid for reminiscence therapy in dementia care environments , 2004, CHI EA '04.