02 Mar Albert Margalef wins two awards with his Final Project ‘Mnéme’
The Final Degree Project “Mnéme” by Albert Margalef, Graduate in Design, specialty in Graphic Design, is giving us a lot of joy. On the one hand, it has won the first prize in the eighth edition of the Accent Awards G awarded by Graffica magazine, which recognises the best Final Degree Projects (TFG) from the different design schools in Spain. And on the other hand, it has won the Anuaria-Pro Award to the best work or study project carried out by a final year design student, awarded by Veredictas.
Born out of a personal need, following his father’s diagnosis of Vascular Dementia, Albert Margalef create Mnéme, a playful, motivational and non-pharmacological instrument of cognitive stimulation that seeks to slow down the inevitable progression of Vascular Dementia, an ailment that leads to a notable reduction in personal autonomy. This ailment is caused by a series of small strokes that affect thinking, emotion and behaviour.
“The patient shares an entertaining, motivational and fun moment. Most of all, fun”
Its purpose is to build a fun and learning environment that can improve the well-being and quality of life of patients and their families. By adapting to the patient’s stimuli, Mnéme fulfils the main purpose of being a complementary tool to a rehabilitation therapy of higher mental functions. These are memory, attention, orientation, visuospatial abilities, agnosia, oral and written language, praxia and executive abilities.
In this way, Mnéme involves the creation of a time, space and means in which the patient, together with their therapist or family member, can spend an entertaining, motivational and fun time. Above all, fun. And that, while playing and stimulating their cognitive capacity, they can slow down the inevitable progression of their illness and improve their well being.
All by means of a tool based on cards that propose activities of greater or lesser complexity, depending on the state of the illness. Humming a song, drawing a clock and marking the exact time, covering a photograph or repeating words are some of Mnéme’s methods. It also has notebooks, photographs and chromatic, alphabetical and route pieces, so that the exercises can be carried out in a more attractive way. And it moves away from the markedly childish character of most of the cognitive tools aimed at an adult audience.
At the same time, one of the aims of Mnéme is to provide an exhaustive classification of the areas of cognitive intervention and their graphic identification. This will make it possible to know which areas are being stimulated at that very moment.
Congratulations on your project, Albert!