BU Research Blog

Last week, Dr Ben Hicks (lecturer in Psychology and an associate of the Ageing and Dementia Institute) and Prof. Wen Tang (Head of Research in the Department of Creative Technology) attended the Kick-Off meeting in Valencia for their recently awarded Erasmus+ project. This two year study is led by Alzheimer’s Valencia and includes partners: Alzheimer’s Slovenia, Alzheimer’s Romania, Alzheimer’s Greece and IBV Valencia. The project aims to explore the use of ‘Serious Games’ for people living with dementia and to exchange best practice knowledge between the various EU countries. As part of the study, the research team will develop an online training platform that will enable people living with dementia and their care partners to access and use a range of ‘Serious Games’ that can support their well-being.

The preliminary meeting was an exciting affair with lively discussions between the partners as they outlined their aspirations for the project. Following a two-day meeting that included an unexpected trip to the Regional Parliament of Valencia to meet a representative of the Valencian Government for the European Union, the partners have been tasked with exploring up to date ‘Serious Games’ that are being used with people with dementia in their countries. The research team will initially compile a list of games and devices that are being used within the dementia community.  Following this, each country will host a series of workshops to assess the perceived impact of the games as well as understand best practice for their implementation. Once this information has been collected, work will begin on designing the e-training platform.

Over the next two years, meetings will be held in each of the four countries to enable the partners to continue to share their knowledge. So bring on Greece in March 2017!

If you would like more details on the project please contact Ben on bhicks@bournemouth.ac.uk.