Towards a Tele-assistance Service for the Cognitive Stimulation of Elders with Cognitive Decline

Thanks to advances in science and technology, the life expectancy of human beings has increased steadily at a constant rate. Unfortunately, this had made evident the increasing incidence of age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer´s disease (AD). Although there is no cure for AD, the literature reports that people who frequently participates in cognitive stimulation activities reduces the risk of presenting it or improves their cognitive abilities. Aging-in-place and telemedicine make possible the provision of medical services to elder adults in their homes, in order to reduce hospitalization costs and to increase patient comfort in their home. Aiming at understanding the processes that occur in cognitive stimulation, and how they could be supported through technology, we present a characterization of the activities performed during a stimulation session of people suffering from AD. We also present a preliminary set of design insights that designers and developers of tele-assistance services could consider for the development of such systems.