Samuel Benveniste

The MINWii project: Renarcissization of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease through video game-based music therapy

Abstract MINWii, a new serious video game targeting Alzheimer and demented patients, is a simple music therapy tool usable by untrained care givers. Its goal is to improve patients’ self-image (renarcissization) to reduce behavioral symptoms, which are an important cause of institutionalization. With MINWii, elderly gamers use Wiimotes to improvise or play predefined songs on a virtual keyboard. We detail our design process, which addresses the specific features of dementia: this iterative refinement scheme, built upon qualitative, small scale experiments in a therapeutic environment, led to a shift of MINWii’s original focus from creativity to reminiscence. A large majority of our patients, with mild to moderate dementia, expressed a strong interest in our system, which was confirmed by feedback from the care givers. A controlled therapeutic study of MINWii is currently under way, which investigates its impact on behavior and quality of life in a hospital setting.

Rehabilitation of the psychomotor consequences of falling in an elderly population: A pilot study to evaluate feasibility and tolerability of virtual reality training.

BACKGROUND A fall in elderly subjects can lead to serious psychological consequences. These symptoms can develop into Fear of Falling with behavioural disorders comparable to PTSD that may severely limit autonomy. Virtual reality training (VRT) could be seen as a worthwhile therapeutic approach for this syndrome since it has been shown to be a useful tool for motor rehabilitation or combat-related PTSD. We thus developed a training scenario for VRT with psychomotor therapists. OBJECTIVE To test the feasibility and acceptability of VRT when used by elderly adults for fall rehabilitation. METHODS Our population of 8 patients older than 75 years, with a Mini Mental Score Examination greater than 18/30 performed sessions of VRT and answered a questionnaire on the feasibility and acceptability of it. RESULTS This sample showed a highly favourable response to the prototype of VRT. They found it easy to use, enjoyed the experience, and thought it realistic and helpful. CONCLUSION The conclusions of our study are limited by sample size. However, applications with VRT can offer the potential of an acceptable technique for elderly subjects. The next step will be to show the efficacy of this method in the management of post-fall PTSD.

Innovative Technology-Based Healthcare and Support Services for Older Adults: How and Why Industrial Initiatives Convert to the Living Lab Approach

To support older adults with age-related or chronic diseases living in the community, suppliers are increasingly turning to Personal Health Systems (PHS) for remote care delivery. Despite the advantages of PHS, implementing these systems brings on several challenges on the technical level, but also related to the diversity of end-users, the characteristics of the ecosystem, the innovation process itself, regulatory and social aspects. To discuss these issues, we study two different PHS currently under implementation and deployment by two French companies: a telehealth service for frail older adults living at home and a GPS-based monitoring service to deal with wandering and disorientation of persons with dementia. We describe and compare problematic situations faced by these companies on three levels - demand, supply, and context- and explain why they decided to evolve towards a Living Lab approach to improve technology acceptance and social and economic return on investment.