See the person, not their dementia
DevaWorld™
helps people live well with dementia
Personalized activities that celebrate life
Behavioral and cognitive health support
A cognitively-friendly virtual world
Built on a 3D game engine, for touchscreen tablet.
DevaWorld wins 2020 Caregiver Friendly® Award (Today’s Caregiver Magazine, USA)
Deva World is full of fun, self-affirming activities of daily living
Playing together builds stress-free communication bridges
Improving quality of life for people with cognitive disabilities and their supporters
Scientifically developed and validated
Care Staff:
– 84% improved skillset
– 78% strengthened communication
– 50% increase in client cooperation
Players:
– 76% nominate the ‘happy’ emoji after a Deva World Session
– “Enjoy” is the most common descriptor used after a Deva World Session
We stimulate a person’s higher needs of belonging, esteem and self-actualization, making everyday care easier.
We amplify human energy (not replace it) with technology that promotes the active participation of both members of the care dyad.
15+ evidence-based therapeutic activities and person-centered strategies build confidence and agency.
Deva World is a calm and meaningful place full of social and environmental interactions for increased communication and understanding.
Real world outcomes happen after playing DevaWorld (a priming effect): ADLs are managed better after a DevaWorld Session.
Deva World supports cultural and linguistic diversity
Connecting to spiritual life through Deva World: here, Poppy, who has never used a computer before, interacts with a book of religious icons. Poppy, who has trouble finding words, names the Saints while turning the pages.
When Maria is playing Deva World, her tremor abates. We can also see the gentle encouragement delivered by Eketerina, her supporter.
People can feel isolated even though they are living in a community. In this session, entirely conducted in Greek, Michael is working with one resident. She finds the Greek records. Her singing is infectious. Soon, a group gathers and gets involved.
Here’s a great example of ‘self engagement’. Our memory care resident, finds a transistor radio on the garden bench. He turns it on and sings along. While singing, he also feeds our cat, Dixie. He has no trouble multi-tasking. He is in the zone of optimal engagement.
Norma is anxious. Someone took her biscuits. We start playing Deva World. She enjoys the music and begins dancing in her chair. I ask her about her love of dancing and memories of meeting her husband at a dance comes to the fore. Norma forgets about her missing biscuits.
Agnes seemed to have low self-esteem. With DevaWorld, Agnes sees her photo and lights up. “Am I??”, she exclaims. Even when people have difficulty finding words, we often notice the use of ‘I’s and ’we’s. These identifier pronouns are key indicators of self and personhood.
George had trouble finding words and rarely spoke. Having run his own business for many years, we asked George for advice about our new product. Not only did George give feedback, but he did so with a twinkle in his eye, and his sense of humor was front and center for all to enjoy.
Our community
Grounded in science
Deva World was built from the ground up with a residential community receiving full-time memory care, informed by dementia therapy best practices.
The caregiver/player relationship is integrated at the design level. This joint experience is key to players’ improved mood and sense of wellbeing.
The project was
An immersive multimedia environment may give people a sense of purpose
