Designing for Dementia: Iterative Grief and Transitional Objects
- Submitting institution
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Cardiff Metropolitan University / Prifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- AD137
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
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10.1162/DESI_a_00475
- Title of journal
- Design Issues
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 42-53
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 1531-4790
- Open access status
- Compliant
- Month of publication
- January
- Year of publication
- 2018
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Research process
Finding ways to support individuals who are transitioning through loss and grief and coming to terms with a loved one's death is of increasing importance to designers. For people living with dementia and their families, the loss and grief they experience is iterative and ongoing. This paper discusses design research to make sensory textile objects for people with advanced dementia, intended to support positive well-being, shared experiences, and “in the moment” pleasure. It draws on theories relating to the use of transitional and transformational objects to show how these textiles support people living with dementia as they transition into greater dependency and move toward the end of life.
Research insights
The paper is informed by collaborative qualitative design research involving participatory textile design of sensory textiles for people living with advanced dementia. The Older People and Ageing Network (OPAN) funded research took place in Wales and Australia and was supported by social care provider Gwalia Cyf in Wales, Age Cymru and Alzheimer’s Australia. Outcomes from the research included a series of hand-crafted sensory textile prototype garments and blankets, which were evaluated by people living with advanced dementia and their caregivers. Findings reveal the importance of personalisation and “in the moment” sensory stimulation of objects for people living with advanced dementia, and their potential for stimulating moments of sensory reawakening. Also, how these objects can become memorials and symbolic representations following a person’s death, providing support for family members through their experience of loss.
Dissemination
The underpinning research was presented at a number of international conferences including: Design and Emotion ‘Colours of Care’, Bogota, Colombia, October 2014; AGHW Sydney Australia 2014, ICDC Bangalore, India January 2015; OPAN Swansea, Wales 2015; D4H Sheffield 2015; Dementia Lab, Germany 2017. This paper was first published online on 03 January 2018.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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