How nursing home residents with dementia respond to the interactive art installation ‘VENSTER’: a pilot study

Abstract

The goal of this study was (1) to determine whether and how nursing home residents with dementia respond to the interactive art installation in general and (2) to identify whether responses change when the content type and, therefore, the nature of the interaction with the artwork changes. The interactive art installation 'VENSTER' evokes responses in nursing home residents with dementia, illustrating the potential of interactive artworks in the nursing home environment. Frequently observed responses were naming, recognizing or asking questions about depicted content and how the installation worked, physically gesturing towards or tapping on the screen and tapping or singing along to the music. It seemed content matters a lot. When VENSTER is to be used in routine care, the choice of a type of content is critical to the intended experience/usage in practice. In this study, recognition seemed to trigger memory and (in most cases) a verbal reaction, while indistinctness led to asking for more information. When (initially) coached by a care provider, residents actively engaged physically with the screen. Responses differed between content types, which makes it important to further explore different types of content and content as an interface to provide meaningful experiences for nursing home residents. ä IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONVENSTER can facilitate different types of responses ranging from verbal reactions to active physical engagement. The choice of a type of content is critical to the intended experience/usage in practice. Activating content seems suitable for use as a meaningful experience during the spare time in between existing activities or therapy. Sessions with interactive content are short (avg. 30 mins) and intense and can therefore potentially be used as an activating therapy, activity or exercise. In order to actively engage residents with dementia, the role of the care provider seems very important. ARTICLE HISTORY

Technology and Dementia: The Future is Now

“…Musical memory is relatively spared in dementia [39] and multiple technology projects have leveraged this including the one-button radio [40], simple music-making interface [41] and collaborative music making [42]. Enjoying art has also led to programmes such as House of Memories 1 , an interactive art installation for care homes [43], making art as an enjoyable pastime [44] and a more focused art therapy programme [45, 46]. …”

Behaviors of Persons with Dementia: A Review and New Perspective for Future Research

“…Similar to behavioral interventions, alternative care interventions are typically single component interventions [45,86], targeting PWDs in the moderate to severe stages of the illness process [66,86] living in nursing home or long-term care facilities [10,87]. However, differing from behavioral interventions, the research to date on alternative care interventions have typically lacked aspects of rigorous methodological designs including low sample sizes and lack of an appropriate control group for comparison.…”

“…Although these results provide a starting point, more methodologically rigorous research is needed in order to conclude that these types of intervention programs positively impact behaviors experienced by PWDs and their caregivers. These methodological issues can be seen within other studies which conclude findings based on results that are from caregivers or staff stating their personal experiences in noticing differences within individuals rather than results that are based on statistically significant findings [84,87]. There are, however, a few noted exceptions of alternative care interventions that have employed a randomized control trial design and have found sufficient efficacy.…”

Technology and Dementia: The Future Is Now

“…Musical memory is relatively spared in dementia [39] and multiple technology projects have leveraged this including the one-button radio [40], simple music-making interface [41] and collaborative music making [42]. Enjoying art has also led to programmes such as House of Memories 1 , an interactive art installation for care homes [43], making art as an enjoyable pastime [44] and a more focused art therapy programme [45,46].…”