Adapting the Emobook Life Story Book App for Reminiscence Focused Music Therapy in Dementia Care: An Interdisciplinary Participatory Design Approach

Life Story books are frequently employed to facilitate reminiscence interventions, but their use in music therapy remains limited in the scientific literature. There is a paucity of research detailing the design processes involved in this context. In contemporary music therapy, the effective integration of technology is a significant concern. This paper aims to report on the Participatory Design process used to adapt the Emobook Life Story Book App for a Reminiscence Music Therapy Program for people living with dementia. An interdisciplinary team comprising an interaction designer, a software engineer, a music therapist, and a research assistant engaged in co-design meetings. The interdisciplinary and participatory process yielded four ideas and four lines of action, which evolved iteratively as the work meetings progressed. Points raised by the lines of action were addressed, leading to modifications in the Emobook app and adjustments in the intervention program for seamless integration. Collaborative, interdisciplinary efforts are essential in advancing the incorporation of technology into music therapy practice. This study demonstrates the value of a Participatory Design approach in adapting technology for use in Music Therapy.