The Designing for Dementia Knowledge Library

11 Areas of Daily Living

Daily Living Challenge

DATA

the Mental or Physical Dysfunction

Knowledge

Person
searching things

I forget where I put my glasses and look for them in the house.

Cannot retain/recall your own behavior, experiences, and habits

Osamu Miyazawa
searching things

I look for things because I do not know where I put what.

Cannot retain/recall your own behavior, experiences, and habits

Hiroyuki Iwata
searching things

I lost the notes that I jotted down and cannot find them.

Cannot retain/recall your own behavior, experiences, and habits

Naomi Higuchi
searching things

Although I decide where to put my watch, I lose it by putting it somewhere else. Just the thought that I will be looking for something makes me feel anxious and slightly upset.

Cannot retain/recall your own behavior, experiences, and habits
Be depressed/anxious

Naomi Higuchi
daily routine

I lose track of the days of the week and wake up my husband in holiday mornings.

Cannot tell dates and days of the week

Naomi Higuchi
clock

The letters on clocks become harder to read.

Have a constricted or narrow visual field

Using digital display and enlarging the letters

Chie Iida (alias)
clock

I sometimes lose track of time. At one time, three hours had passed although it felt like just a little time for me.

Your sense of time does not match actual time

Measuring one minute with a stopwatch to familiarize myself with the feel. Checking the clock/calendar frequently

Chie Iida (alias)
washing machine

If I am not mindful, I lose track of how many cups of detergent I have put in the washing machine.

Cannot retain/recall your own behavior, experiences, and habits

Iwao Kuboki
washing machine

When doing the laundry, I have difficulty measuring the detergent. I cannot get the detergent into the lid properly.

Cannot sense or operate one's own body
Cannot tell distance
Cannot tell depth
Cannot tell directions or loss of spatial orientation

I use gel-ball detergents.

Mayumi Yamada
hanging laundry

I cannot put clothes on hangers after washing. I have difficulty putting hangers in sleeves.

Cannot sense or operate one's own body
Cannot tell distance
Cannot tell depth
Cannot tell directions or loss of spatial orientation

Mayumi Yamada
hanging laundry

It is difficult for me to clip clothes with clothespins after washing them.

Cannot sense or operate one's own body
Cannot tell distance
Cannot tell depth
Cannot tell directions or loss of spatial orientation

Mayumi Yamada
hanging laundry

I have difficulty hanging my laundry on the clothesline after washing.

Cannot sense or operate one's own body
Cannot tell distance
Cannot tell depth
Cannot tell directions or loss of spatial orientation

Mayumi Yamada
window

The scenery outside the window, which is not actually moving, suddenly appears to be moving.

Stationary objects appear to be in motion

Naomi Higuchi
key

I cannot tell where my keys have gone.

What you see/hear immediately disappears from memory
Cannot retain/recall your own behavior, experiences, and habits

Attaching a key chain that stands out to my keys and putting it on my bag so that I can find it easily

Chie Iida (alias)
key

It is difficult for me to insert the key into the keyhole and turn it to lock the door.

Cannot sense or operate one's own body
Cannot recognize shapes and sizes correctly
Cannot tell distance
Cannot tell depth
Cannot tell directions or loss of spatial orientation

I put a rabbit-shaped cover on the head of the key to make it easier for me to see the front and back of the key.

Mayumi Yamada
I occasionally have visual illusions that look like illuminations created by a searchlight.

Feel as if you are seeing things that should not be there

Chie Iida (alias)
organizing things
public procedures

I become unable to tell what documents in front of me are.

What pops into your head immediately disappears from memory
Cannot integrate/process more than one piece of information

Classifying and storing documents in colored files using color-coding, such as pink for school-related, green for personal appointments, etc.

Chie Iida (alias)
daily routine
writing letters, words and sentences

My handwriting in the diary gets worse every year.

Cannot write neatly

Naomi Higuchi
calculation

Unable to count up coins, I take out the 10,000 yen note.

Cannot perform simple calculations

Osamu Miyazawa
wallet

When shopping, it is difficult for me to put money away in the wallet.

Cannot sense or operate one's own body
Cannot tell distance
Cannot tell depth
Cannot tell directions or loss of spatial orientation

Mayumi Yamada