Research Article
Dynamorph: Montessori Inspired Design for Seniors with Dementia Living in Long-Term Care Facilities
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-319-73062-2_4, author={Yuan Feng and Ruud Reijmersdal and Suihuai Yu and Matthias Rauterberg and Jun Hu and Emilia Barakova}, title={Dynamorph: Montessori Inspired Design for Seniors with Dementia Living in Long-Term Care Facilities}, proceedings={Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment. 9th International Conference, INTETAIN 2017, Funchal, Portugal, June 20-22, 2017, Proceedings}, proceedings_a={INTETAIN}, year={2018}, month={2}, keywords={Dementia Interaction design Montessori method Long-term care Nursing home}, doi={10.1007/978-3-319-73062-2_4} }- Yuan Feng
Ruud Reijmersdal
Suihuai Yu
Matthias Rauterberg
Jun Hu
Emilia Barakova
Year: 2018
Dynamorph: Montessori Inspired Design for Seniors with Dementia Living in Long-Term Care Facilities
INTETAIN
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-73062-2_4
Abstract
Seniors with dementia living in nursing homes are often faced with boredom and loneliness due to lack of meaningful engagement and personalized activities. We applied Montessori method to design an interactive table for elderly home residents and evaluated the design with four female residents and a nurse. This method offers a range of levelled interactions to meet the needs at different stages and cognitive decline levels of the residents with dementia. The table initiates interaction with an increasing level of complexity that magnifies the rewarding effects and social connectedness among the residents. The qualitative evaluation during a pilot study indicated that the interactions with the table reduced agitation of the elderly participants and increased the instances of positive social behaviours.