Using lifelogging to help construct the identity of people with dementia

While there is much interest and work around the topic of how technology shapes our lives, there is less work around how technology can record our lives and how we can use that recording to remember, in cases when our own memories fail. Our work explores the incorporation of lifelogging technology into a therapeutic approach to support people with dementia. SenseCam therapy aims to stimulate the cognition of a person with dementia, with maintenance of their personal identity as its primary goal. SenseCam images are used as cues to meaningful discussions about the person’s recent memories, thus constructing a particular version of the participant’s identity during the therapy sessions. The constructed identity was enriched by uncensored details from the day-to-day life of the SenseCam wearer and hugely influenced by the content of SenseCam images. This reflects how the identity of people with dementia transforms but continues despite the disease progression, thus illustrating how technology goes beyond just shaping the wearers’ lives. This paper reports details of three case studies carried out as part of a qualitative study exploring the potential of lifelogging technology in supporting health care professionals and relatives to develop a more holistic version of the identity of people with dementia than during other therapies