Design for Dementia Care: Making a Difference

Abstract

The paper discusses the growing role of design in dementia care and its power to enhance the wellbeing of people living with dementia, their carers and caregivers. It refers to three examples of recent design research focusing on creating environments, objects and technologies to support appropriate person-centred stimulation and activities in dementia care. The projects use interdisciplinary co-design approaches and ethnographic methods to establish new knowledge and develop user-centred design solutions to improve care. The authors debate that engaging end-users in the design process not only empowers the designer; the collaborative approach enables in particular the carer / caregiver to reflect on their important task and to mobilise their creativity.