MinD has investigated the social needs of people with early to mid-stage dementia living in the community. Dementia is a huge social challenge. Currently, around 50 million people worldwide live with dementia. With no cure available, preventive and social approaches to promote wellbeing hold the most promise. Design has significant potential to help identify people’s needs and wishes and support them.
The MinD project officially finished in February 2020, and now its activities continue through the MinD network.
News and updates
All About Us (This is Me) mindful life-storytelling board game in its fourth year!
All About Us on the BBC World Service series People Fixing the World. You can listen to the recording ‘Board Games Fixing the World’.
Professor Niedderer has been invited to speak about the game and its development at the SeGAH conference 2025.
The Persona Toolkit has been accepted for inclusion in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Dementia Observatory (GDO) Knowledge Exchange Platform. Go to…
The MinD story
MinD has used the concepts of design and mindfulness to develop innovative design solutions that support people with dementia with self-empowerment and social engagement. MinD had 3 stages: data collection, design development and evaluation. Each stage featured user participation to help develop several products: the This is Me life story board game; the Living the Life mindful reflective booklet; the You and Me interactive decision-making tool; and Let’s Meet Up!, a digital platform for social interaction with chosen family or friends. These products aim to reduce anxiety and enhance quality of life, well-being, confidence, social contact and engagement for people living with dementia. Seeing the person with dementia as a capable and unique individual benefits their families, and so could reduce the costs of care. Besides developing these exciting design products, MinD has developed a novel Mindful co-design methodology and guidelines as well as toolkits to promote the involvement of people with dementia in research and development. We have also summarised our insights as a set of Recommendations to improve design practice, education and policy.
MinD Designs
The MinD design pages comprise information about and access to our design products, which we have developed to support people living with dementia to manage their daily and social lives confidently. Explore
MinD Tools
The MinD tools comprise information and access about our design research and co-design tools to help involve people with dementia and make their voices heard. Explore
MinD Guidelines and Recommendations
Mind has developed mindful co-design guidelines and recommendations for policy to offer guidance for the use of design in the dementia care context, and to include people living with dementia in the research and design process and give them a voice. Read
MinD Publications
The MinD publications offer insight into the research that underpin our outcomes, including the data collection, design development and evaluation with people with dementia. Read
International MinD Conference 2019