Challenge

According to studies, the quality of life of older people in care facilities is often alarmingly reduced as residents suffer from loneliness and depression. There is evidence that these general conditions can promote the progression of dementia. People over the age of 70 also frequently suffer from multiple illnesses. As a result, their radius of action and social interaction decrease, which in turn can worsen physical and mental health. This vicious circle can only be broken through more participation and social interaction. The challenge, however, is to provide affected persons with freedom and to enable human relationships and communication within the daily routines of care facilities, which are strongly characterized by a lack of time and personnel.

Goals and procedure

The aim of the international BaSeTaLK research project is to improve the quality of life of older people living in inpatient care or senior facilities by means of a novel intervention, and thus to prevent dementia. To this end, digital media are to be used for the first time. Volunteer senior citizens are instructed to accompany the digitally supported remembrance work i.e., the active engagement of older people with their own life story through conversations with caregivers or relatives. It is one of the most important elements of modern geriatric care. Through the reconstruction of their own history, elderly people may recognize meaning in life and sometimes even find inner peace. The app developed in the project is to be tailored to specific requirements and needs of the target group. The content and functions of the biography app will be developed in workshops in an iterative and participative process.

Innovations and perspectives

There have been no systematic interventions to date for people in nursing or senior care facilities that are suffering, for instance, from depression. The research project aims to remedy this deficiency. In addition, the BaSeTaLK project will investigate for the first time whether digital media are a suitable support and whether they can possibly promote media competence in old age. The software, which is adapted to the needs of the target group, will thus create insights into whether and how older people can re-establish social interaction via digital media. The researchers also expect the project to yield new findings in the field of human-technology interaction. Training concepts for volunteers and employees of care facilities will be used to test and anchor biography work in a new field. The final app will be published as open source and thus made accessible to as many users as possible.