Rememo: A Research-through-Design Inquiry Towards an AI-in-the-loop Therapist's Tool for Dementia Reminiscence

TL;DR

Rememo is a sociotechnically-aware AI tool designed to support human therapists in dementia reminiscence therapy, emphasizing relational dynamics and personalized care through research-through-design methodology.

Contribution

The paper introduces Rememo, an innovative AI-enabled tool that enhances human facilitation in dementia RT, addressing infrastructural and cultural challenges in Singapore.

Findings

Rememo supports personalized reminiscence therapy with AI assistance.

Design insights highlight the importance of relational dynamics in AI-mediated care.

The system extends understanding of human-AI collaboration in therapeutic contexts.

Abstract

Reminiscence therapy (RT) is a common non-pharmacological intervention in dementia care. Recent technology-mediated interventions have largely focused on people with dementia through solutions that replace human facilitators with conversational agents. However, the relational work of facilitation is critical in the effectiveness of RT. Hence, we developed Rememo, a therapist-oriented tool that integrates Generative AI to support and enrich human facilitation in RT. Our tool aims to support the infrastructural and cultural challenges that therapists in Singapore face. In this research, we contribute the Rememo system as a therapist's tool for personalized RT developed through sociotechnically-aware research-through-design. Through studying this system in-situ, our research extends our understanding of human-AI collaboration for care work. We discuss the implications of designing AI-enabled systems that respect the relational dynamics in care contexts, and argue for a rethinking of synthetic imagery as a therapeutic support for memory rahter than a record of truth.