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A person living with dementia learning to navigate an iPad: a case study

Abstract Purpose This study challenges the notion that people living with dementia are unable to achieve novel learning without focussed intervention techniques. The purpose of this study is to explore how a woman living with dementia (Alzheimer’s disease) learns to use a tablet computer with support from communicative partners. Method The study is based on video recordings and the theoretical framework of learning as changing participation in joint activities. Quantitative and qualitative focus is on changes in the interactional organization over the course of six weeks in the activity of using an augmentative and alternative communication application. Results Over time, the participant living with dementia, relies less on the expertise and explicit instructions of her communicative partners when navigating the application, and more on the immediate feedback provided by the tablet computer. Conclusions The findings suggest that novel learning still is possible for people living with dementia, even without the implementation of focussed interventions. This study further emphasizes the procedural nature of learning for people living with dementia as the woman’s embodied actions were carried out in an increasingly more direct fashion. Implications for rehabilitation For people living with dementia, learning in everyday activities is facilitated by repeated exposure to the activity and the scaffolding practices of a more experienced communicative partner. In instances of novel learning, one should not underestimate the importance of embodied engagement from people living dementia. Care professionals need not to worry about exposing people living with dementia to unfamiliar activities.