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Computer helping older people with Alzheimer's

Computer games offer an exciting and engaging way of helping older people with dementia keep their brain active and learn new skills.

This is the finding of Arlene Astell and her colleagues at the Universities of St Andrews and Dundee who will talk about the success of their project "Living in the moment" today, Thursday 3 July, at the at the 2008 Annual Conference for Psychology Specialists Working with Older People part of The British Psychological Society, being held at the University of York.

Poor memory and concentration make it difficult for people with dementia to function. "Living in the moment" is a project that has drawn on the principles of gaming development and the psychology of dementia to develop helpful and fun computer games for dementia sufferers. The presentation will include videos of the games being used by participants, who were involved at every stage of its development. The project demonstrated that people with dementia can learn new activities with appropriate prompting.

Arlene said: "Working together with people with dementia we have explored over 20 different games and activities in our efforts to find out what people enjoy. The people with a diagnosis of dementia were very helpful in telling us what they like and dislike and were very accommodating in trying out what ever we put in front of them. This project may be unique in working solely with people with dementia rather than involving family or professional caregivers and it clearly demonstrates that people with a diagnosis of dementia can participate fully and make their news known. Based on the feedback received we are now developing a gaming package designed to support and engage people with dementia in enjoyable and stimulating activities." ...http://www.medicalnewstoday.com