Designing Engagement in Dementia Care: Embodied Participation, Situated Adaptation, and Co-Design-In-Practice

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Dementia Care Research
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Older adults with dementia often experience social and emotional isolation.
• Person-centered care and embodied selfhood theories guide interventions.
• Relational care practices are crucial in long-term care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how a tactile, play-based intervention (Colorful Counting Brickers) enhances emotional and social engagement in older adults with dementia.
• To understand the relational dynamics shaping engagement within a Taiwanese long-term care context.
• To introduce the concept of co-design-in-practice by caregiving staff.

Main Methods:

• A four-phase design process: ethnographic immersion, iterative development, expert consultation, and in-situ implementation.
• Thematic analysis of observations, caregiver interviews, and written reflections.
• Focus on relationally grounded care practices and person-centered approaches.

Main Results:

• Engagement is an emergent, relational process, not a fixed response.
• Key dimensions of engagement include embodiment (tactile, affective, gestural), relationality (peer reciprocity), and immediacy (real-time caregiver adaptation).
• Caregivers demonstrated co-design-in-practice through attuned facilitation.

Conclusions:

• Caregiving can be reframed as design agency, emphasizing relational and culturally embedded engagement.
• Advocates for designing interventions through everyday care practices, not just isolated products.
• Promotes a participatory dementia innovation model valuing caregiver expertise and resident lived realities.