Designing rehabilitation playthings for people living with alzheimer’s disease: Categories, values, and design characteristics

Rehabilitation playthings (RPTs) are increasingly recognized as non-pharmacological tools for supporting cognitive function, emotional well-being, and social interaction among people living with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, there remains a lack of discussion on how RPTs should be designed to address the specific cognitive, emotional, and functional characteristics of this population. This study employed a focus group discussion to systematically identify the categories, rehabilitation value, and design characteristics of current RPTs. The findings synthesize these categories into user-oriented design goals, namely stimulating cognitive function, enhancing perception and motor coordination, supporting daily living skills, and providing social and emotional support. In addition, key design characteristics contributing to the usability and therapeutic effectiveness of RPTs are articulated. By explicitly linking design characteristics with rehabilitation value and RPT categories, this study provides design-oriented insights to guide the development of more effective and engaging RPTs for AD care.

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