Zoe Yuan
MEMO: A Conversation Card Game
How might meaningful activities reconnect people diagnosed with dementia with their loved ones?
As one of the consequences of an aging society, the number of people who have dementia is increasing. Dementia is a progressive cognitive disease, which affects more than just people's memories. Dementia influences not only dementia patients but also their families, potentially deteriorating their relationship.
Insight
Communication becomes problematic at each stage of the disease, and these problems adversely affect the quality of the relationship between family caregivers and people with dementia. Caregivers may perceive a person with dementia as being incapable of participating in some activities and as a result, won't make an effort to interact with them. Even when caregivers do attempt an activity, people with dementia do not respond to certain activities as the disease progresses. Therefore, both caregivers and people with dementia experience a sense of emotional and social isolation.
Idea
Memo is a unique conversation card game. Every family can customize the card set through the website based on the personal experience and family history of the people with dementia. After selecting the cards, the kit will ship to the user. Three sensory cards are in Memo, an image card, a sound card and a tactile card. Users would randomly pick a card to answer the question on the cards. If the user cannot answer the questions on the card, they would change to a different card.
Impact
People with dementia tend to repeat telling the same stories. The game Memo allows families to explore the memories hidden in their minds. By using game cards to dig more in-depth into the old stories, new stories can be discovered. The younger generation would have the opportunity to hear their family stories. It provokes a positive relationship and atmosphere in the family. All the content in the game empowers the caregivers to make a difference in their relationships with their loved ones. In this way, communication can alleviate difficulty and frustration.
