Assistive media for wellbeing

Personal digital media such as photos, music and films play a pervasive part in contemporary life by helping us to remember the past, communicate with each other and represent our identity to others. In this chapter we explore the value of such media for supporting wellbeing in older age, drawing on concepts from literatures on art, reminiscence and music therapy. Theoretically we argue for a new category of assistive technologies involving media creation and consumption to enhance wellbeing. We propose a framework for understanding and designing such assistive media systems which highlights the interaction between media item, author and audience. This framework is then illustrated through early attempts to explore a new kind of digital story therapy for people with dementia in a residential care setting. We conclude with recommendations for the design of future ‘assistive media’ systems and experiences that might enhance not only the lives of people with dementia, but also those around them