Communication Support System Between Persons with Dementia and Family based on Memory Recollection and Life Story

Abstract — Family caregivers who support persons with dementia are deeply stressful because they do not have sufficient knowledge of dementia and give care to them by trial and error. Memory recollection and memory communication are found to be effective for intelligence and emotion of persons with dementia. We aim to support persons with dementia recall memory by talking about their memories together, place them in their life history, and communicate with their caregivers. The proposed system uses photographs as triggers for memory recollection. The demonstration verified that recollection support of memory using photographs is promising as triggers for conversation and organization of memory. In this evaluation, it is shown that the life story has a high possibility to promote communication with person with dementia and the family. Thus, we also propose a communication support system which focuses on the life story. This system supports the communication by comparing the life stories of family, and supports the memory recollection of the person with dementia by using “family life story.” Keywords-Persons with dementia; caregivers; memory recollection; photograph; communication; sharing of life story. I