On 15 December 2021, the evaluation of the MinD This is Me mindful life-storytelling game was published, open access in the Journal of Aging Studies: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2021.100995 It describes how the "This is Me" game was co-designed and evaluated by researchers from the MinD project team together with people with dementia, care partners and carers in four countries, including Germany, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom. Its aim is to provide support to people with early- to mid-stage dementia, especially following diagnosis. Based on concepts of life-storytelling and mindfulness, the game encourages players to talk about and reflect on their life experiences and aspirations, to help players focus on what they can and want to do with their lives.
The game consists of a gameboard, 66 question cards, a dice and four counters. The board shows a life-story path, divided into decades from childhood to 100+ years. During the game, players follow the life-story path to pick corresponding cards. They read out and answer the question on the cards. The other players can answer the same question, or move on to roll the dice anew and pick the next question card. The questions relate to memories, activities, relationships, experiences, achievements and dreams. The questions enable players to talk and share stories about the different stages of their lives. The life-story path leads the players from reminiscing about the past towards what they can and may wish to do in the present and future. During the evaluation, people with dementia who played the game in day groups with other people with dementia and caregivers felt that it was enjoyable, that it enabled them to share experiences, learn from and get to know others.
Participants enjoyed the social interaction and felt that it could help people get out of isolation and think together with others about the future. The "This is Me" game has now been launched in collaboration between the MinD team and dementia wellbeing specialists Relish under the trademarked name "All About Us". It is now for sale on the Relish website and via online retailers: https://relish-life.com/dementia-games/group-games/all-about-us/ Further information on the MinD project is available from the project website: http://www.designingfordementia.eu For any questions or suggestions about the MinD project and its activities, please contact Professor Niedderer at k.niedderer@mmu.ac.uk
