What is it about?

This paper describes a three year funded research project investigating the design of playful objects to soothe, comfort and engage people living with the advanced stages of dementia. It describes the Compassionate Design approach that places loving kindness for the person central to the design process and prioritises personalisation, sensory stimulation and connecting people to others and the world around them.

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Why is it important?

The Compassionate Design methodology provides useful guidelines to inform design practice and care of people living with advanced dementia. The paper presents examples of designs developed during the LAUGH research project and the positive impact of the playful objects on the people they were designed for and their carers.

Perspectives

This paper is important as it summarises the three year LAUGH design research. There are currently very few products designed specifically for people living with advanced dementia. This paper advocates the use of playful objects to support positive emotion and subjective wellbeing. I hope this paper will help the development of new products and services to help in dementia and end of life care.

Prof Cathy Treadaway
Cardiff Metropolitan University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Compassionate design for dementia care, International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, July 2018, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/21650349.2018.1501280.
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