Make-believe Matters. The Moral Role Things Play in Dementia Care

Many of these objects have aspects of make-believe (e.g. social robots, therapy dolls, virtual-reality, prints for exit camouflage). People with dementia are especially vulnerable to loss of trust.

In close co-operation with professionals in care and design, this project investigated when the use of objects that involve make-believe supports the personhood of people with dementia. And when must it count as manipulative and deceitful. The project developed guidelines and workshop material to evaluate these questions on a case to case basis.