ABSTRACT
Viewing art has been found to be beneficial for people with dementia as it provides opportunities for connection and social participation. Museum and gallery visits were found to be enriching social activities for people with dementia; however, the time and effort involved in these activities can be significant barriers. Viewing non-personal, generic, digital artistic photos (as opposed to personal, family photos) could provide an easy and feasible alternative as an activity for people with dementia in the nursing home, but to date, little is known about its use and effectiveness in digital interventions to improve social interaction, mood, and/or quality of life. This chapter describes visual arts to enhance social participation, existing digital psychosocial interventions using generic photos, the development and evaluation of a digital Photo-Activity in nursing homes, and experiences of caregivers and residents with dementia who did the Photo-Activity, compared to caregivers and residents who did a control activity.
