CARIAD, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff CF5 2YB, UK.
Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Mar 1;20(5):4410. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20054410.
Design can improve the quality of life of people living with dementia but creating successful design solutions is not simple, due to the complexity of the medical condition, and the ethical considerations of including those affected in design research and evaluation. This article describes research involving an interactive product, 'HUG', developed from academic research, to support the wellbeing of people living with advanced dementia, which is now commercially available. People affected by dementia were included at every stage in the design research process. The evaluation of HUG took place in both hospital and care home contexts with 40 participants living with dementia. In this paper, a qualitative hospital study is described, in which patients received a HUG on prescription. Findings reveal that although HUG was rejected by some, those patients who did accept it benefitted significantly. Not only did the device reduce distress, anxiety and agitation but it also helped with patient compliance in medical procedures, aspects of daily care and enhanced communication and socialisation. The Alzheimer's Society's accelerator partnership funding has enabled this product to be manufactured and made commercially available so that the benefits of this academic design research can be made more widely available to people living with dementia.
设计可以提高痴呆症患者的生活质量，但由于医疗状况的复杂性以及在设计研究和评估中纳入受影响者的伦理考虑，因此要创建成功的设计解决方案并不简单。本文介绍了一项涉及互动产品“拥抱”的研究，该产品是从学术研究中开发出来的，旨在支持晚期痴呆症患者的幸福感，目前已商业化。受痴呆症影响的人在设计研究过程的每个阶段都被包括在内。HUG 的评估在医院和养老院环境中进行，共有 40 名患有痴呆症的参与者。本文描述了一项定性的医院研究，其中患者根据处方接受了 HUG。研究结果表明，尽管有些人拒绝了 HUG，但那些接受它的患者确实受益匪浅。该设备不仅减轻了患者的痛苦、焦虑和躁动，还帮助患者更好地配合医疗程序、日常护理，并增强了沟通和社交。阿尔茨海默病协会的加速器合作伙伴关系资助使该产品得以制造并商业化，从而使学术设计研究的好处能够更广泛地惠及患有痴呆症的人。
