Augmentative alternative communication for Alzheimer's patients and families' using SAVION

With an estimated 35.6 million people worldwide dealing with dementia, solutions must be found to ease the memory loss, mood changes and communication problems associated with these syndromes. SAVION is a computer program developed in Israel to offer cognitive stimulation for people with dementia. The program has been used for over ten years in day care centers, home care programs and private homes. Using the SAVION program during assisted training sessions raised several interesting research questions, such as: Can people with dementia learn to interact with the computer? How does using the computer affect their communication with those around them? How does the cognitive stimulation affect their self-esteem? Can computer technologies provide an additional channel of communication for caregivers to relate to people with Alzheimer's Disease and help them, and their caregivers, maintain their identity and functionality? This paper reports on some results from studying these questions. Initial results indicate that people with Alzheimer's Disease can learn to interact with the computer and that computer assisted stimulation activities did not only offer cognitive stimulation to patients with dementia, but also served as a means for the patients to communicate about their well-being with families and caregivers.