Interactive Calendar to Help Maintain Social Interactions for Elderly People and People with Mild Cognitive Impairments
Céline Descheneaux20 and Hélène Pigot20
| (20) |
Laboratoire DOMUS, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada |
Abstract
Today’s societies are very different from those of the past. The proportion of elderly people is growing steadily and has
reached highs never reached before. Cases of dementia have also risen as the population gets older. Family members often live
far apart and it is not unusual for them to be scattered in more than one country or continent. Memory loss associated with
ageing (and amplified in cases of dementia) as well as a general feeling of isolation caused by distance can often lead elderly
people to depression. We believe that, if used properly, technology could provide elders with powerful memory aids and social
interaction tools that could improve their quality of life. In this article, we propose the use of a special interactive calendar
with enhanced functionalities that can help manage a schedule, keep in touch with family members living far away, and reminisce
about past events.
Keywords Memory aid - social interactions - elderly - ageing - calendar - intuitive tools
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