The progression of dementia leads to a loss of initiative and agency, halting daily activities, hobbies, or social encounters. Open-ended play can encourage initiative but remains underexplored in demen- tia. This paper explores how technology-driven design can support open-ended play, making social interactions more enjoyable and re- newing interest in daily activities. We conducted five workshops at dementia daycare facilities, observing people with dementia engage with playful circuit-building toolkits to identify strategies. Find- ings reveal these toolkits stimulated self-direction and initiative to accomplish self-imposed goals, both independently and collabora- tively. We show how open-ended play fosters confidence, resilience, social engagement, and self-expression, allowing people with de- mentia to exercise choice and share moments of achievement. We provide design implications for technology to stimulate initiative through open-ended play by 1) balancing structure and freedom, 2) emphasizing novelty and material diversity for non-verbal social connection, and 3) considering age-appropriate aesthetics.
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706598.3713930
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