Background: Social innovation and gerontology develop a wide range of actions aimed at supporting and improving the needs of long-lived populations. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are drivers ...of change, and their potential to develop solutions through teaching students’ social innovation skills should be considered in the field of longevity. This article reports the results obtained by the Senior Innovation Lab (SIL) training initiative. Methods: Challenge-based learning, design thinking, and lean startup approaches were implemented in training 26 participants with the final aim of developing innovative solutions to previously identified long-lived population needs. Results: Final products were innovative ideas developed through collaboration between students, academic staff, and business employees, indicating the importance of adopting entrepreneurial approaches in academic teaching. The participants identified motivation and perseverance as the most relevant entrepreneurial skills and most of them also perceived that they possessed it. The participants also considered spotting opportunities (chance to add value) as the most desired skill throughout the whole experience. Conclusions: SIL’s assessment showed that social innovation methodologies contributed to the development of learning strategies, enabling potential solutions for the ageing challenges.
•Personalizing these technologies can convey the narratives of people with dementia.•Family involvement in personalization aids both care staff and dementia patients.•Assess caregivers' needs before ...implementing technology-based interventions.•Training, support, and integration of multimedia tools should be sensitive.•Evaluate social benefits and caregiver burden to measure intervention efficacy.
Interactive multimedia systems are widely used to enhance participation in meaningful activities for older people living with dementia. This review aims to analyze and synthesize current evidence regarding personalization of these systems, by considering the type of content included, the selection process and the experience of people living with dementia when interacting with the content.
In accordance with PRISMA guidelines (PROSPERO registration number blinded for review), a systematic search was undertaken across 4 databases. Meta-aggregation pooled data for synthesis.
A total of 520 articles were identified from searches in four databases, and 15 were included in this review. Two classes of content were identified: personal, often autobiographical; and curated, carefully chosen generic content appropriate for a wider group of people in the demographic. Variety of content can act as a trigger for autobiographical memories. Personalized music enhanced a desire to engage and prompted meaningful interactions among participants.
Despite some differences in the selected studies, the findings enabled us outline key points to consider when personalizing interactive multimedia systems for people living with dementia. Further research should focus on studying the social condition of the target users during the personalization process and on the benefits for caregivers.
INTRODUCTION: Life Story books are frequently employed to facilitate reminiscence interventions, but their use in Music Therapy remains limited in the scientific literature. There is a paucity of ...research detailing the design processes involved in this context.OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to report on the adaptation of the Emobook Life Story Book App for a Reminiscence Music Therapy Program for people living with dementia.METHODS: An interdisciplinary team comprising an interaction designer, a software engineer, a music therapist, and a research assistant engaged in a Participatory Design process. The study comprised two distinct phases: "Adaptation Phase," aimed to identify features requiring adjustment to integrate Emobook into MT effectively and the "Implementation Phase," focused on evaluating the adequacy of these changes for Emobook's use within the Music Therapy ProgramRESULTS: By merging the requirements identified during each phase, additional improvements were generated, leading to the decision to evolve Emobook Post-Prototype towards a version tailored specifically for Music Therapy.CONCLUSION: Collaborative, interdisciplinary efforts are essential in advancing the incorporation of technology into music therapy practice. This study demonstrates the value of a Participatory Design approach in this regard.
