TITLE:
The “Bridge” Project: Α European Innovative Intergenerational Approach Using Serious Games for People with Dementia
AUTHORS:
Marina Makri, Konstandina Vasiliki Iakovou, Minas Dasygenis, Nikolaos Baras, Asimina Brouzou, Ioannis Brouzos, Evanggelia Angelidou, Ioana Caciula, Sara Beccati, Alexandra Manattini, Magda Tsolaki
KEYWORDS:
Intergenerational, Workshop, Dementia, Young People, Serious Games
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.12 No.9,
September
29,
2021
ABSTRACT: Intergenerational activities can be an enjoyable way to act on dementia symptoms, enable people with dementia (PwD) social inclusion and bridge the intergenerational (involving also younger and older people) gap by the direct involvement of young people. The Erasmus+ “Bridge” project has developed eight prototypes Serious Games (SGs) (physical, digital or phygital) and innovative Co-Creation Intergenerational Workshops acting on cognitive and behavioral symptoms of dementia between 2018 to 2021. Partners Greece (Alzheimer Hellas), Italy (Anziani e non solo) and Romania (Asociatia Habilitas) have drafted the methodology of co creation workshops and implemented them following guidelines set. The final eight games have been developed and a second implementation of Game playtesting Workshops was organized in each country in order to assess the impact of the games. In total, 24 PwD co-designed and played some games with the cooperation of 6 game-designers, 16 healthcare professionals, 7 caregivers and 21 young volunteers in the first Co-Creation Workshops. Eleven prototypes games had been created and the team of the project took the final decision to develop fully 8 of them. More specifically, the 8 “Bridge” games developed are the Next destination, Flea market, Find the word, Bird-watching, Emotions, The directors, Blooming flowers, Specialite. These have been tested during a series of workshops in October 2020, organized in partner countries. The testing phase involved 47 people: 23 PwD, 17 health professionals, 4 caregivers and 3 young volunteers. Moreover, during the project’s lifetime, The Bridge web-platform (https://projectbridge.eu/), contains MOOCs on the methodology of the Game-Creation Workshops and the final 8 selected SGs.