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Design of Assistive Technology for Ageing Populations pp 311–334Cite as

Improving the Quality of Life of Individuals with Dementia Using Personal Digital Media

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Part of the book series: Intelligent Systems Reference Library ((ISRL,volume 167))

Abstract

Older populations are prone to chronic degenerative diseases, amongst which dementia, in its various forms, is on a steep rise [1–3]. Dementia deprives individuals of many cognitive faculties; loss of short-term memory and agitated behaviours are two common manifestations of the disease. Persons with dementia may find themselves depressed, bored, isolated and lonely, leading to behaviours that are challenging for carers to manage. Medication is used as the primary method of treating the symptoms of dementia. More than 40% of people with dementia at aged-care facilities are being prescribed unnecessary medication [4], which leads to reduced well-being and quality of life [5] and, may even accelerate cognitive decline [6]. There is broadening evidence of the efficacy of non-medicinal interventions to alleviate the stressful effects of dementia [7], in particular the positive stimulus of interacting with music and digitally mediated imagery. The challenge presented by these types of intervention is how to make them easily accessible to, and operable by those with cognitive impairment. This chapter describes the research and development of a touchscreen-based interface providing a variety of media experiences from music and photographs to family messages, all capable of being autonomously interacted with by elderly individuals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3145, Australia

    Kanvar Nayer & Selby Coxon

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  1. Kanvar Nayer
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  2. Selby Coxon
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Correspondence to Kanvar Nayer .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Coventry University, Coventry, UK

    Andree Woodcock

  2. Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Coventry University, Coventry, UK

    Louise Moody

  3. School of Art and Design, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

    Deana McDonagh

  4. Elizabeth Grove Surgery, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Ajita Jain

  5. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Centre for Artificial Intelligence, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Lakhmi C. Jain

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Nayer, K., Coxon, S. (2020). Improving the Quality of Life of Individuals with Dementia Using Personal Digital Media. In: Woodcock, A., Moody, L., McDonagh, D., Jain, A., Jain, L. (eds) Design of Assistive Technology for Ageing Populations. Intelligent Systems Reference Library, vol 167. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26292-1_17

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