Abstract
This paper addresses design pedagogies in a Portuguese university aimed at educating and engaging undergraduate students in design practices that meet emerging societal challenges related to health and wellbeing. It explores contributions of design in dementia contexts through a multidisciplinary approach involving students and faculty, health professionals and persons with dementia. The students were assigned to design sensory and cognitive stimulation artefacts for persons with dementia who attend the “Memória de Mim” Day Centre, a service run by the Alzheimer Portugal association. A fundamental premise was to draw on the biographical and cultural features as well as the life stories of the target audience, requiring a person-centred approach. An iterative methodology of problem definition, ideation, design, prototyping, testing and validation was used. Methods included a combination of health design thinking methodologies (such as brainstorming, concept maps, moodboards and project boards), professional training in “Dementia, Therapies and Art”, participatory design with persons with dementia and systematic usability testing. Throughout the design process, a strong sense of commitment from the students to the project was evident, expressed in their close involvement in research and applied methodologies and increased concern for the feasibility of their proposals, functionality and accessibility for the target audience. Eleven artefacts were designed personalised for specific persons or customisable, whose contributions to the person with dementia not only include sensory and cognitive stimulation, but also the activation of positive memories, reinforcement of their identity and sense of purpose, moments of socialisation and fun among them, and reducing anxiety and agitation. The artefacts were provided to persons with dementia at the Centre so that they can benefit from them and for a subsequent assessment of their long-term effectiveness and contribution.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.065
Citation
Lima, C.(2025) Design pedagogies to engage students in design for persons with dementia through a multidisciplinary collaborative approach, in Clemente, V., Gomes, G., Reis, M., Félix, S., Ala, S., Jones, D. (eds.), Learn X Design 2025, 22-24 September 2025, Aveiro, Portugal. https://doi.org/10.21606/drslxd.2025.065
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Full Paper
Design pedagogies to engage students in design for persons with dementia through a multidisciplinary collaborative approach
This paper addresses design pedagogies in a Portuguese university aimed at educating and engaging undergraduate students in design practices that meet emerging societal challenges related to health and wellbeing. It explores contributions of design in dementia contexts through a multidisciplinary approach involving students and faculty, health professionals and persons with dementia. The students were assigned to design sensory and cognitive stimulation artefacts for persons with dementia who attend the “Memória de Mim” Day Centre, a service run by the Alzheimer Portugal association. A fundamental premise was to draw on the biographical and cultural features as well as the life stories of the target audience, requiring a person-centred approach. An iterative methodology of problem definition, ideation, design, prototyping, testing and validation was used. Methods included a combination of health design thinking methodologies (such as brainstorming, concept maps, moodboards and project boards), professional training in “Dementia, Therapies and Art”, participatory design with persons with dementia and systematic usability testing. Throughout the design process, a strong sense of commitment from the students to the project was evident, expressed in their close involvement in research and applied methodologies and increased concern for the feasibility of their proposals, functionality and accessibility for the target audience. Eleven artefacts were designed personalised for specific persons or customisable, whose contributions to the person with dementia not only include sensory and cognitive stimulation, but also the activation of positive memories, reinforcement of their identity and sense of purpose, moments of socialisation and fun among them, and reducing anxiety and agitation. The artefacts were provided to persons with dementia at the Centre so that they can benefit from them and for a subsequent assessment of their long-term effectiveness and contribution.