Gamification in Social Networking: A Platform for People Living with Dementia and their Caregivers

In this paper, a gamified social platform designed for people living with Dementia (PLWD) and their caregivers is presented. This platform constitutes a support tool that strengthens self-care and builds community capacity and engagement at the point of care. Its architecture related to gamification aspects was designed to be flexible and scalable to support personalized services such as user monitoring, social networking, cognitive skills training and improvement of the adherence to treatment guidelines for PLWD and their caregivers. Advanced visual analytics and reporting tools are available for medical professionals and social workers to support the decision-making processes. The outcomes of this approach are delivered through a set of gamification concepts running in parallel to create motivation for achieving the desired behavioural change. After projecting all user group expectations on a social game canvas, the impact evaluation will assess the intended effects of the proposed gamification approach on the welfare on PLWD and their surroundings.