Judges Q&A with Cathy Treadaway
15 March 2023
Meet the Judges: Prof. Cathy Treadaway, Professor Emerita at Cardiff Metropolitan University and Research Director of HUG by LAUGH Ltd.
“Like most people, I have friends and family members who have had dementia or who are living with it. Probably the most important thing I have learnt about dementia is that even in the most advanced stages of the disease the person is still ‘there’, they need to be loved, visited, and cherished, even if they are unable to speak or can’t remember who you are. The emotional connection remains.
I have also seen how some people with a diagnosis of dementia can live really well with the disease and have full and productive lives, when they are supported. Our aspiration as designers (and human beings) should be to enable people to do this for as long as possible. They need to continue to have autonomy, a sense of purpose, fun, joy, love and all the things that make life worth living for us all.”
Why are you excited to be judging the Longitude Prize on Dementia?
I am passionate about designing a better world for people living with dementia and have spent the last 12 years leading academic research in this field. I hope that being involved in the judging panel will enable me to share some of the knowledge I have gained through my research. There is a huge need for innovative designs that meet the complex needs of people living with dementia. It will be exciting to be part of the judging panel that will identify good design ideas that will make a real practical difference to people’s lives.
What experiences and insights will you be bringing to the judging process?
I have a background in design for industry, and academic research. I have led government-funded research investigating how to design for people living with dementia and published extensive articles on the subject.
One of our research projects led to the development of HUG, an interactive therapeutic comforter that was designed for people living with advanced dementia. The product is now manufactured through our business HUG by LAUGH Ltd., in partnership with Alzheimer’s Society, and is commercially available in countries around the world.
I will bring my insights into how to ‘scale up’ design ideas into manufactured products, to ensure they are available to help people living with dementia. I believe it is essential to include people affected by dementia in the design process.
Through my work I have also pioneered Compassionate Design, which is an approach that places loving kindness at the heart of the design process and seeks to focus the designer’s attention on the person living with dementia, their senses, and how they connect with others and the world around them.
What difference do you think assistive technologies will make to people living with dementia?
There is great potential for assistive technologies to support people to live well with dementia when they are appropriate and well designed.
Technology can sometimes make magic happen! It can also sometimes be a barrier, confuse and frustrate people if it isn’t intuitive or sensitively considered. Dementia is a very complex condition and there are many ways it can affect a person and their day-to-day life. Each person is affected uniquely, and their condition will change over time.
Technology can enable a product to be tailored to the individual so that it is highly personalised; it can also enhance sensory properties and add layers of functionality and connectivity. The secret lies in understanding the needs of the user and designing with sensitivity and compassion.
Have you seen an appetite for technology amongst people living with dementia? What do innovators need to take into consideration in designing for this audience?
We live in a connected world and many everyday activities now require interaction with technology and the internet. For someone who lives with dementia, or cognitive impairment, this can be very challenging.
Many people enjoy the benefits that technology can bring, but the ‘cognitive load’ that comes with remembering passwords, PINs, icons or how to operate or charge a device, can make it off-putting.
Innovators need to understand how dementia may affect a person’s memory and their perception of the world. Including people living with the disease at every stage of the design process can provide invaluable insights into what may or may not work when innovating with technology.
Dementia is a degenerative disease, so understanding how a person may change over time and ‘designing in’ the flexibility to simplify functionality, or enable a carer to assist, are also things to consider.
Alzheimer’s Society has produced a free practical guide to designing products and services:
The helpful guide sets out key design principles and explains how to include people affected by dementia in the design process.
Professor Emerita Cathy Treadaway, PHD
