Facilitating Collaboration and Social Experiences with Videogames in Dementia: Results and Implications from a Participatory Design Study

The prevalence of dementia and the need for associated forms of care is increasing rapidly. Information and communication technologies (ICT) have the potential to support collaboration and cooperation between people with dementia and their caregivers and to promote the independence, wellbeing and quality of life of all parties involved. In this context, we investigated the potential for an ICT-based videogame system to generate and facilitate social experiences for people with dementia and their caregivers. 26 people with dementia and their caregivers participated in a 16-month participatory design case study. The results suggest that collaboration and cooperation amongst the parties involved was increased by using the system. The study also revealed both positive and negative social experiences triggered by the videogame-based system. This article will report on these results and consider their implications for the future design of similar systems and their potential to further encourage collaboration and cooperation amongst people with dementia and their caregivers.