The goals of this project are: (1) to enhance the quality of life for individuals with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and their families/caregivers with the new TOM-VC intervention (Therapeutic Old Memories-Video Channels) and the novel Lifezig system, decreasing the burn of care to families/caregivers and contributing to positive interaction between AD patients and families/caregivers; (2) to develop the easy-to-use self-contained Lifezig system, allowing family/caregivers to create/display personalized TV channels with old photographs of AD patients, music, narration and relaxing sounds; as a therapy to relax and treat AD patients. The project will develop novel assistive technology and new products to improve the well-being and functioning of people who are older and have chronic disabling illness, particularly AD, enabling environment improvement for home, community and health-care settings. With an ever-growing number of AD patients (4 Million American families struggling with the Alzheimer's Disease3), Lifezig products should have a high demand, as there are no such systems on the market. The research framework is: implementation of the Lifezig prototype based on user requirements, iterative design, 3-stage evaluation with AD patients and caregivers; and assessment of the intervention effectiveness/system usability by utilizing the Observed Emotion Rating Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale and Caregiver/Family Assessment Instrument.
