7 March 2007

Student scoops award for dementia project

A PhD student at the University of Dundee exploring ways in which older people with dementia can be creative again by composing their own music has been invited to present her research to an international audience.

Philippa Riley is a PhD student at the School of Computing at the University of Dundee, which hosts a research group working on technology for dementia sufferers. Her project to develop interactive music composition software which can be used by dementia sufferers is in its early stages.

However, organisers of the Creativity & Cognition Conference in Washington D.C. have been sufficiently impressed already to ask Philippa to make a presentation and have covered the costs of her travel, accommodation and conference fees to ensure she gets there.

The Creativity & Cognition Conference is a multidisciplinary event combining research and practical projects, with tools for creativity receiving particular interest.

"I was thrilled to get this award to go to the conference particularly because my work is in the specialist area of support for dementia, and this conference covers tools for creativity in general," said Philippa. "It is great that there is such strong interest in what has to be an important topic for the future."

The Alzheimer's Association in the UK has just published a report highlighting what has been called a dementia 'time bomb', with steeply increasing numbers of people developing the condition in our aging society. The Association has called for more long-term investment in research and treatment, and more efforts to find ways to improve the quality of life of those with dementia and their carers.

Philippa is part of a research group at the School of Computing investigating ways in which advanced technology can be of assistance to people with dementia and their carers. The group is also working on ways of enabling people to keep in touch with their relatives through interactive TV, and designing an entertainment system for a person with dementia which can be used without the help of a carer.

One completed project, CIRCA, a collaboration with St Andrews University, is a communication support system for people with dementia and their families.

Dr Norman Alm, one of Philippa's PhD supervisors, said, "The issue of dementia and how we can develop technology to aid sufferers and improve their quality of life is going to become more and more prominent."

"The fact that Philippa is being invited to address a wide audience, and not just rehabilitation technology experts, is an indicator of this. We are very excited about the potential for her project. Support for daily living is, of course, important - but being creative is part of being fully human."

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