Recommendations on the Design of Serious Games for People with Dementia

Corinna Dietlein,B.N. Bock

doi:10.4108/eai.11-7-2019.159528

Abstract

Dementia is a progressive syndrome affecting cognition, motor abilities and behavior. Serious games are an emerging treatment alternative but benefits have not been found for people with dementia yet. One reason may be that serious games were not well adapted. The purpose of this article is to give

Highlights

Dementia is a chronic and progressive syndrome which affects cognition “beyond what might be expected from normal ageing” [1]
Keep in mind that in nursing homes, game sessions must flexibly adapt to the care plan and to the availability of caregivers
Another article found that the permanent provision of real time guidance and the reduction of information on the interface are key to successful serious games (SG) design [41]

Summary

Introduction

Dementia is a chronic and progressive syndrome which affects cognition “beyond what might be expected from normal ageing” [1]. The purpose of this article is to give informed recommendations on the design of SG for people with mild to moderate dementia, based on existing literature and personal work experience in the field These recommendations are intended to provide a guidance in designing SG that meet the abilities and needs of PwD. CD was involved in troubleshooting during the intervention period, and conducted structured interviews with the PwD and their caregivers after the intervention, to retain information on how they experienced MobiAssist, how they integrated gaming into their daily routines, what difficulties they encountered or what games they liked and disliked the most This specific methodology that combines knowledge from the literature and first-hand work experience was chosen for the synthesis of holistic information that encompasses the broad field of dementia work. We would like to ensure that all aspects, from the theoretical background to the practical working field, are consistent and complementary when giving recommendations appropriate for the specific target group of PwD

Input and output device

Feedback

Instruction and assistance

Game content and cognitive and motor requirements

Animations and game perspective

Task difficulty

Setting

Schedule

Discussion

Findings

Background