The aim of the IDoService project is to co-develop tools to make it easier for people living with mild to moderate dementia to connect with relevant groups, to have more opportunities for active participation in meaningful activities and to feel valued for any skills or expertise they might wish to share.
This month, the team organised three webinars with participants of the IDoService project to share the main insights from the focus groups and individual interviews. Between February and August 2021, the team conducted three focus groups and 17 individual interviews with people with lived experience of dementia and key stakeholders. These were an opportunity to discuss their experiences of participation in activities meaningful to them as well as the accessibility and availability of such activities. The interviews generated a great amount of rich content and insights, especially regarding self-perceived benefits of activities, barriers and facilitators. It also allowed participants to voice opportunities they are missing or would like to have in Greater Manchester. For example, participants reported looking for more opportunities to participate in social and cultural activities. They also wanted one-to-one support to be able to master personal challenges again, such as hiking around Scotland or volunteering.
The webinars also offered the opportunity to discuss potential design ideas emerging from the results and to hear participants’ feedback on the ideas. The ideas will be explored further at a series of forthcoming co-design workshops with participants. For this reason, researchers and designers interested in codesigning were invited alongside participants to share their co-design experience and suggestions for the forthcoming workshops. Involving a variety of stakeholders, the workshops will explore the speculative design ideas in a Greater Manchester context.
For more information see: www.idoservice.org
For any questions or suggestions contact Dr Isabelle Tournier by email idoservice@mmu.ac.uk or on Twitter @idoservice4dem1
The IDoService project builds on the interdisciplinary participative design approach, ideas of empowerment and social engagement developed during the European project MinD (2016-2020).
