Effective Implementation and Impact of Tovertafel
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Implementation and Impact of the Tovertafel in day centre and residential settings.
IRAS ID
273487
Contact name
Sarah Smith
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds Beckett University
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
The aim of this research is to provide guidance on the best ways to help people living with dementia to play and interact with the Tovertafel (an interactive digital game), as well as to understand if there are any benefits for peoples physical health and thinking abilities.
The Tovertafel is a fun and interactive piece of technology designed for people with dementia aiming to improve their quality of life and help care staff by equipping them with an enjoyable activity to play with the people they are supporting. The Tovertafel is a projector fixed to the ceiling that projects interactive games onto a table. There are a variety of games including passing a beach ball and sweeping leaves. The games are interacted with using hand or arm movements. For example, when playing the beach ball game, the ball will move around the table and when the projector senses a movement towards the ball it will change its direction.
A key concept of the Tovertafel is that people with dementia should be able to enjoy the activity with little help. As the Tovertafel is relatively new piece of technology, there has been little independent evaluation of the technology. Whilst the makers claim that “little” support is needed, we do not know the level of assistance that people may need to help them play, or fully understand the benefits that people may get from playing it. This research will develop and build on current research and knowledge around the Tovertafel, using a two-study approach. Study 1 will look at providing guidance on the best ways to support someone to use the Tovertafel and study 2 will take the learning from study 1 to help people use the Tovertafel and measure any benefits of using the Tovertafel for people living with dementia.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/YH/0303
Date of REC Opinion
19 Nov 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion