Me and My Future: A Co-Designed Toolkit for Meaningful Future Planning Conversations
Lunchtime Sessions 1
17 November, 2026 1:20 – 2:05 pmElectronic Posters
Helen Fisher
Design Researcher
Designed with Care
Summary
Planning for the future can be challenging for people living with dementia, families, and those who support them. Conversations about future wishes, values, and priorities are often delayed or avoided despite their importance in supporting person-centred care and decision-making. This poster presents the development of Me and My Future, a co-designed toolkit created to support meaningful conversations about what matters now and in the future.
The toolkit was developed through a collaborative design process involving people living with dementia, family supporters, occupational therapists, dementia specialists, care staff, and community organisations. Through a series of workshops, prototype testing, and iterative refinement, participants helped shape a suite of accessible resources, including posters, question cards, visual prompts, take-home activities, and facilitator guidance. The co-design process ensured that lived experience remained central to both the content and format of the toolkit.
The poster will share the development journey of Me and My Future, including the evidence and insights that informed its creation, the methods used to engage participants, and the challenges encountered when designing resources to support conversations about future planning. It will also highlight factors that contributed to successful engagement, including the use of visual and creative approaches, flexible facilitation, and opportunities for reflection beyond structured sessions.
Feedback gathered during piloting demonstrated that creative, person-centred resources can support people living with dementia to explore future wishes, priorities, and aspirations in ways that feel safe, meaningful, and empowering. The toolkit helped facilitate conversations that may otherwise be difficult to initiate, supporting greater understanding between people living with dementia, families, and practitioners.
The poster will offer practical insights into co-design, future planning, and the use of creative resources to support person-centred dementia care.