1. INFORMATION: MAPPING DEMENTIA
Can communication design provide a better understanding on Alzheimer’s disease?
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In the beginning of the project, my focus was on information design towards the understanding and raising awareness on dementia and its impact in the world, reinforcing the need for working in this area. The aim was to visualize the information supplied by Alzheimer’s associations, which is mainly written and difficult to grasp.
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CAN COMMUNICATION DESIGN ADD VALUE TO THE CONTEXT OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE?
Can communication design provide a better understanding on Alzheimer’s disease?
1. INFORMATION: Mapping Dementia Facts and Figures
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Primary Research
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1 year st
2. REFLECTION & DISCUSSION: What if graphic design was affected by Alzheimer’s disease symptoms?
Can communication design aid people with Alzheimer’s disease?
2nd year – before Work in Progress show
3. SUPPORT: Tools for interaction between people with Alzheimer’s disease and their relatives or carers 2nd year – after Work in Progress show
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FACTS AND FIGURES
Dementia is difficult to understand. There are many variables such as different diseases, different symptoms and different stages of progression that affect people in different ways.
WHAT IS DEMENTIA? The first diagram shows the differences between the several diseases that cause dementia and its symptoms, and how they differ from normal ageing. The appearance of this design resembles a tube map, to show how these diseases are similar to each other (parallel lines) and how they are different (diverging lines).
What is dementia? source: Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Association, NHS, Mayo Clinic
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5-10%
FRONTOTEMPORAL
<5%
LEWY BODIES
50-75%
ALZHEIMER’S
20-30% VASCULAR DEMENTIA
PROPORTION OF DEMENTIA SUBTYPES There are several diseases that cause dementia. Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease is the most common, followed by vascular dementia, fronto-temporal dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. Other kinds of dementia are extremely rare. The border between these diseases are unclear and the mixture of two diseases is frequent. The pie chart shows the proportion of dementia subtypes, trying to convey this uncertainty of data.
Proportion of dementia subtypes source: World Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Report 2009
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2010:
MORE THAN 4x LONDON’S POPULATION: 7, 753,600
2050:
115,380,000 ESTIMATED NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA IN THE WORLD
ALMOST 2x UK’S POPULATION: 62,041,708
IMPACT OF DEMENTIA The number of people suffering from dementia and it s cost were visualized using comparisons to make impact of dementia more relatable. The number of people with dementia was compared to the population of London and the UK, and the cost of dementia was compared to the revenues of large and familiar companies.
dementia $604 bn
70% spent in Western Europe North America
Tesco $62 bn
Apple $20 bn
BP $239 bn
The cost of dementia worldwide. sources: World Alzheimer Report 2010, bp.com, google.co.uk, apple.com Estimated number of people with dementia in the world, in 2010 and 2050. sources: World Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Report 2009, Wikipedia
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Everything becomes confusing, also for you.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
After this process of documenting, primary research was conducted to understand the information needs of people with dementia and their relatives and what kind of outcomes might be useful for them. The research also focused on how relatives experience the disease, how they accept and deal with it. Some quotes from interviews and focus groups, as well as quotes from my grandparents were shown in a silent 2-minute video.
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Rita Maldonado Branco MA Communication Design Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design