Increasing digitalisation, technologisation and roboticisation also affect the living environment of individuals with dementia. The expansion of the current learning and meeting site for technology-based simulation in the area of dementia care (SimDeC) into an interdisciplinary research workshop addresses this challenge. The interdisciplinary and participatory development and research of medical and care technology products for individuals with dementia is conceptualised and realised in cooperation with a centre of competence on medical technology innovations. The overall objective is to (re)construct the benefits, effects and acceptance of medical and care technology solutions for use in everyday and care situations and to record them as part of the research on the basis of verifiable explanations. This means that the development and research of innovative medical and care technology products should focus, in particular, on the questions, answers and ideas that individuals with dementia have about technology. It represents a technology pull perspective and enables individuals with dementia to evaluate technical innovations as potentially meaningful. Accordingly, plausible development statements can be made about whether technical or digital solutions contribute to promoting or maintaining the safety, independence and self-determination of individuals with dementia and their family caregivers in everyday life and, thus, reveal a (digital) prevention potential.

Such a participatory research and development workshop requires the development of specific strategies to involve individuals with early-onset dementia. People living with dementia are described as “exceptionally vulnerable” in the context of care and social science research. Therefore, special attention needs to be paid to the participation of individuals with dementia in research. Individuals with dementia are often not expected to be able to contribute to a scientific study due to cognitive changes caused by the disease. As a result, the majority of research to date has been conducted on individuals with dementia, rather than with them. Excluding individuals with dementia from the research process means reinforcing negative stereotypes about dementia and marginalising the perspective of those affected. Those affected themselves are increasingly calling for participation, as are ethics committees and research institutions that want to develop strategies that enable the integration of individuals with dementia into the research process.