Augmented paper in dementia care
Cognitive decline and functional disabilities that occur with the onset of dementia have a major impact on the life of the person and their caregivers. As the condition progresses, the need for meaningful social interaction and support for care coordination becomes greater for all caregivers.
The aim of this project is to develop augmented books for storytelling and information purposes which will be used by caregivers of people with dementia. This may help in the context and communication between health care staff, family members and people with dementia.
Communication barriers arise, which increase the stress of the person with dementia and the caregiver, both in long-term care institutions as at home. A multi-sensory approach to interaction, such as digital storytelling, can be used to recall life history activities, as well as informing their caregivers about the well-being of the person with dementia. Technology can be a bridge to improve quality of life and quality of care in the daily context of dementia. Augmented books have the ability to transmit in digital book format, information from exclusively digital platforms; this is a type of technology that is little explored in the context of health.
The project will be led by Larissa Ferraz an undergraduate student intern in music and media. Larissa is a third year student on studying gerontology at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCAR), Brazil. The project is supervised by Professor David Frohlich, Director of the Digital World Research Centre at the University of Surrey and Professor Paula Castro from the Department of Gerontology at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCAR).