Dementia Lab 2021 looks at how design can uncover and enhance the abilities of people with dementia

Emily Carr University hosts virtual conference with talks, workshops, and performances

SPONSORED POST BY EMILY CARR UNIVERSITY

Designer and qualitative researcher Christina Harrington is Dementia Lab 2021’s keynote speaker.

Dementia Lab 2021 is all about innovations surrounding ability and disability. The virtual conference will highlight ways design can uncover, support, and enhance the abilities of people living with dementia by involving them, and the communities they live in, in the conversation.

Taking place January 18 to 28 online, the conference focuses on how we engage with people with dementia by embracing ways they can contribute rather than approaches that are determined or limited by what they cannot do.

The event is inclusive and multidisciplinary, open to students, designers, artists, researchers, health professionals, carers, and people living with dementia. Dementia Lab 2021, hosted by the Health Design Lab at Emily Carr University, is the fifth installment of the Dementia Lab Conference.

Presentations, discussions, and workshops will highlight three key areas. Engagement is centred on inclusion and shifting the culture of care to one that emphasizes personal independence and reconnecting with community. Empowerment focuses on new ways of designing with and for those living with dementia, embracing challenges and tackling stigma to break negative stereotypes and preconceived opinions. Identity involves approaches to countering social isolation, maintaining dignity, and fostering empathy.

Talks taking place via Zoom will showcase work being done all over the world that is uncovering and amplifying the abilities of people living with dementia. These talks will include question-and-answer discussions. The conference also offers numerous live, interactive online workshops.

The event’s keynote speaker is Christina Harrington, who is presenting a talk called “Moving Beyond Accessible: Considering Design’s Reach for Marginalized Aging Population”. The US-based designer and qualitative researcher focuses on understanding and conceptualizing technology experiences that support health and wellness among older adults and individuals with disabilities. Her research seeks to find ways to employ design as a catalyst for health equity and socially responsible technology experiences.

To make Dementia Lab 2021 accessible to as many people as possible, the conference has two options for general admission: A $55 ticket is for participants who are able to cover the true cost; Pay What You Can is another option. Either way, this general admission ticket provides access to all of the main talks, discussions, and recorded content.  Registration for individual workshops requires a separate ticket.

Founded by event partners Luca School of Arts in Belgium, the conference is supported by Vancouver Coastal Health, Alzheimer BC, and The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

For more information, please visit Dementia Lab 2021.

This post was sponsored by Emily Carr University.