Centre on Aging and Health > Events > 2017 Brain Awareness Week Lecture: Creating a Sense of Purpose with Meaningful Tasks: How Can Technology Improve Quality of Life in People with Dementia?

2017 Brain Awareness Week Lecture: Creating a Sense of Purpose with Meaningful Tasks: How Can Technology Improve Quality of Life in People with Dementia?

How can appropriately designed technology improve the quality of life of people living with dementia? How can they be provided with meaningful activities and engaging interactions?

On Monday, March 13th, at 6:00pm, the University of Regina Centre on Aging and Health will host our 2017 Brain Awareness Week event, which will be a presentation by Dr. Mark Chignell, Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto.

Dr. Mark Chignell has a PhD in Psychology and a Masters in Industrial and Systems Engineering He is the Director of the Knowledge Media Design Institute and BUL Chair in Human-Computer Interaction. He carries out research in human factors and user interface design, with particular interest in aging, adaptive interfaces and healthcare, telecommunications, and driving.

In his talk, Dr. Chignell will discuss the development and evaluation of two new families of products for improving the quality of life for people with dementia by creating sense of purpose with meaningful tasks: Ambient Activities based on Montessori principles where sensory-motor interactions are emphasized and reinforcement-learning-based tools (also known as Centivizers) that are being developed in the Interactive Media Laboratory at the University of Toronto using an iterative design approach.

Dr. Chignell will discuss some of the science behind the use of Ambient Activities and Centivizers, describe some of the design challenges, as well as some of the methods he and his team are using to evaluate and improve these systems. In addition, he will demonstrate some of these new technologies and will set up some design-related activities where participants can form requirements and explore design options based on their experience with, or knowledge of, dementia. The goal is to make this talk a joint learning experience where we can exchange ideas on how to improve quality of life and sense of purpose for people with dementia.

 

Monday, March 13, 2017 at 6:00pm

Open to the public. Admission is free.

Classroom Building (CL) Room 110

Free parking is available in Lot 16 (click here for parking map)

For more information:

306-337-8477

CAH@uregina.ca

Twitter: @UofRAgingCentre