a b s t r a c tProgressive and irreversible cognitive impairments affect the ability of people with dementia to communicate and interact with caregivers. This places a burden on caregivers to initiate and manage interactions to the extent that they may avoid all but essential communication. CIRCA is an interactive, multimedia touch screen system that contains a wide range of stimuli to prompt reminiscing. The intention is that people with dementia and caregivers will explore CIRCA together, using the recollections sparked by the media as the basis for conversations. This paper reports an evaluation of the utility of CIRCA looking particularly at whether CIRCA can meet the needs of both people with dementia and caregivers to engage in mutually satisfying interactions. The findings confirm that people with dementia can use the touch screen system and that the contents prompt them to reminisce. The system also supports caregivers to interact with people with dementia as more equal participants in the conversation. The results suggest that interacting with the touch screen system is engaging and enjoyable for people with dementia and caregivers alike and provides a supportive interaction environment that positively benefits their relationships.

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As world populations grow older the incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementia related illnesses increases (approximately 18 million sufferers worldwide). One particularly devastating effect of AD is the loss of short-term memory, which radically impairs the sufferer's ability to communicate. People with dementia, however, often retain a facility for long-term memory that can function strongly given appropriate stimulation.Project CIRCA (Computer Interactive Reminiscence and Conversation Aid), utilizes interactive multimedia (including audio, video, animation and QuickTime VR environments) to stimulate long-term memory to prompt verbal and non-verbal communication. We will demonstrate how -through good design practice, interdisciplinary collaboration and a user-centred approach to design -we can invest reminiscence therapy with technology-led solutions to assist our participating test groups (30+ people with dementia and 40 carers) in conversational settings. We will demonstrate how this adaptable, expansive, immediate and engaging tool can contribute significantly to 'quality of life' in dementia care environments.

ventive measures are found, designing computer systems to support people with dementia will remain a growing priority. EFFECTS OF DEMENTIA The effects of dementia can be quite devastating for both the person with dementia and family members, as well as pose significant challenges to professional caregivers. Since effective participation in many social activities and interactions requires short-term memory, dealing with the effects of dementia becomes increasingly difficult as the condition progresses. As a result, people with dementia can become socially isolated and deprived of the range and variety of social interactions that characterize unimpaired people's everyday lives. This can have a profound effect on the person's sense of wellbeing, and put severe strains on family and caregivers. Since dementia degrades the ability to communicate, finding ways to promote communication is vitally important. Communication is such a fundamental ability that people are treated as less than human when they can no longer communicate successfully. Sadly, this dehumanization is common in the treatment of people with dementia. 4 Caring for someone with dementia is often frustrating and upsetting. When communication fails, caregivers CIRCA lets those with short-term memory loss draw on reminiscences to converse with relatives and caregivers.The system, which software engineers, psychologists, and designers developed with caregiver input, features a touch screen that displays photos, music, video, text, and other materials to help those with dementia access long-term memory.

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