Folkwang

folkwang is... at eye level with the risk group by Prof. Carolin Schreiber

Carolin Schreiber teaches Industrial Design at the Folkwang University. She is also the creative-scientific director of the "Dementia Things" project , an interdisciplinary project at the Folkwang University of the Arts that develops everyday solutions for people with dementia and their relatives in a participatory and creative way. Here, she describes the effects of social distancing on people with dementia and the role that design can play in this.

Since August 2018, Folkwang University of the Arts has been running a major design research project called "Dementia Things". With an interdisciplinary approach, designers, dementia experts and sociologists are working together with those affected, i.e. people with dementia* and their caring relatives, to develop everyday solutions to improve quality of life in the home. Before the distancing rules came into force, we carried out participatory design processes at eye level with "our" families in a very personal setting, namely in their private homes and on a weekly basis. The aim of the project is to motivate the people concerned to deal with their challenging everyday lives on their own initiative and, above all, through design, and to provide them with appropriate design assistance (design empowerment). We are therefore very close to the living environments, needs and fears of one of these much-discussed risk groups.

Non-Intentional Design. A distance measure at the gate of a retirement home in Essen Überruhr, photo: Kerstin Rademacher


No "off-the-peg" design for people with dementia

As a designer, you often tend to want to solve problems "quickly and pragmatically". According to the motto: (Corona) crisis equals opportunity. An opportunity to take the initiative and come up with uncomplicated and creative solutions. A face mask made from scraps of fabric can be sewn quickly with the help of a pattern and, after a few test versions, possibly also optimized in terms of design. The situation is similar with numerous newly designed apps that are intended to optimize life in Corona times. (Great-)grandchildren can get creative digitally together with isolated elderly grandparents over the distance and thus compensate for the sadness of the lack of real contact.

It all sounds seemingly simple. After all, the technologies are available and we've been connected since the big bang of the internet anyway. However, designing for people with dementia and their relatives has to meet completely different requirements. This has become clear to us over the many years that we have been dealing with this topic. However, the extent to which the current measures to restrict contact affect this group and how few practical solutions are available to them "just in case" makes us all the more aware of the importance of our intensive project. Solutions for people with dementia are usually not "off the shelf" or designed and produced in the blink of an eye

Special challenges

In the "Dementia Things" project, issues relating to improving everyday life and living with dementia very often concern the areas of 'approach and communication' as well as participation in social life, a subjective sense of security or the activation of body and mind to maintain a state of health. In times of isolation and distance, people with dementia are widely affected. Digital communication is only possible to a limited extent and in no way replaces real human contact.

The dementia experts in our team report from the isolated senior citizens' and care institutions what the isolated private households also report back to us - namely that dementia has "picked up speed" in recent weeks. People with cognitive impairments need routines and structure in an everyday life that is at best the same: the same faces, the same daily routines, but also touch when language no longer works as a means of communication. They react to faces covered by masks with negative feelings, for example fear, and associate them with dangers such as threats or crime (dark masks) or illness (surgical masks).

(Perceived) loneliness and public life

Familiar people, for example family members, neighbors and volunteers who suddenly keep their distance and do not allow contact, are unsettling and turn the world upside down for people with dementia. The (perceived) loneliness caused by a lack of contact and contact bans increases the risk of numerous illnesses such as depression, heart attacks, strokes and the rapid progression of dementia. However, it is particularly important for people with dementia to avoid staying in hospital in times of coronavirus, as the hygiene rules are many times stricter here and, in the worst case, people with dementia may even have to be fixed pharmacologically or physically to avoid getting too close to others.

It is particularly interesting for people with dementia if they can (still) be out and about in public spaces. For example, we know a relative who leaves her husband with dementia in the car because he is unable to walk behind her in the supermarket wearing a mask and carrying his own shopping cart. The meaning of signs, symbols, markings, dividing lines or space-structuring structures made of boxes or barriers cannot be interpreted and lead to conflicts in public life. While people with dementia were not "understood" in public spaces even before the pandemic, this problem is currently being compounded by an aggressive attitude when rules are not properly followed.

The list of situations that have changed the world of people with dementia at breakneck speed could be expanded to include many more points. Ultimately, however, what remains for us as a participatory design project team is the realization that design empowerment is absolutely essential for this large and often misunderstood group of people in our society, so that their everyday lives can regain a certain routine and security as soon as possible through self-designed everyday aids

About "Dementia Things"

The "Dementia Things" project is a model project that is being financed by the Stiftung Wohlfahrtspflege over three years and is based at the Theresia Albers Foundation. In addition to the Catholic Pflegehilfe Essen, the Folkwang University of the Arts is involved with a total of three employees. During the corona pandemic, the project continues to run with restrictions. Further information about the project can be found here: www.demenz-dinge.com*Dementiais an incurable, very complex disease that is associated with the loss of cognitive abilities. Very old people are particularly affected. It is not uncommon for people with dementia to also suffer from other age-related illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes. In addition, people in the advanced stages of dementia very often live in care homes for the elderly, as care can no longer be provided exclusively by relatives and outpatient care services.

Text: Carolin Schreiber