using technology to help with dementia

Jasonvonkrueger

My mom is 84 and was diagnosed with dementia about 3 years ago. I'm a software engineer by profession and started working on a message board that can be hung on her wall. Essentially it's a 43" HDTV being used as a monitor for a small computer. The computer runs the app I'm working on.

The board is controlled by a companion mobile app---pics below. For my mom, the mobile app only shows the "D-Pad" which basically allows her to navigate through the board with simple, large buttons. If she wants to see the photo gallery, she touches the Gallery button on her phone.

For family and friends, they see the other parts of the mobile app like Planner. So they can add/remove appointments, events, etc. As soon as events are added/removed, the board is updated in real-time.

I've made two games for it:

*) Facer -- family or friend uploads a face pic, tags a name to the person, and it shows the face pic, the real name and 2 additional random names. My mom has to select the right name and she'll get a point.

*) Renumber -- a number is shown on the screen for a couple seconds and then obfuscated. She has to enter the number she saw using the mobile app. It starts with a single digit and will grow a digit at a time as long as she gets it right.

It even has a screensaver that types out a few paragraphs that tells her about herself...."My name is Jane Doe. I was born in XXXX. I have two sisters and three brothers. etc"

I've tried to make the whole thing is easy to use as possible. Even to get the mobile app, all people have to do is aim their phone's camera at a QR code. I did all that work over the course of a year and then it finally hit me that I'm probably wasting my time.

She never used the Amazon Echos I bought her about 6 or 7 years ago. I even printed out labels that told her what to say to Alexa. That could have been so helpful with remembering things but the only thing she ever did was tell Alexa to play Elvis. And now she doesn't understand what Alexa is at all.

Even my sister and her family (they live with my mom) don't use the Echos.

I'm not really the nurturing type and this is how I've tried to contribute to my mom's well-being. But I really don't think I'll have much success with this message board thing.

Any thoughts?

M1

Your heart is in the right place, wanting to help, but I agree with you that you probably won't have much success. The person with dementia will be confused and will not have the ability to learn new skills.

harshedbuzz

I agree with M1. PWD are unable to learn new things because their short term and working memory are unreliable. This applies even when the device being introduced is simpler than one they had until recently used competently.

I'm not the nurturing type either and I didn't really get along with my dad who was my PWD. I get it. Sadly, there is no technology or device that can replace the attention of a human being when it comes to the safety or emotional well-being of a PWD.

Other caregivers would talk about rubbing lotion on their PWD or brushing her hair which just sounded repellant to me. Maybe you could focus on an activity mom would enjoy-- a ride in the car for ice cream or a fast food burger.

HB

dancsfo

@Jasonvonkrueger It's good that you tried, and maybe it gives you some feeling of being able to help your mom's well-being via software engineering.

But I think PWDs needs change, and even if it works one month, it may be less effective the next for your mom. So that means you continuously need to update and refine it. Maybe you will get lucky and one part will work. If it's a matter of prioritizing all the other things you can do, I'd step back and see how it fits. Perhaps there are other things that can be more useful for your sister and her family, which ultimately can help your mom in the big picture. If your sister's life is very hectic, then making that a bit more efficient can mean more time for caregiving.

Incidentally, the facer game seems very simple to use, and would like to know if your mom enjoys it.

I sense that the planner feature, to help the caregivers, may be effective to make sure everyone is on the same page, and they are more likely to adopt the tech. One thought: Would they rely more on the phone than a big display?

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yarnball

I wonder if you have something here that could be useful early in the journey. I think my Mom could have used this and would have enjoyed having it early on. Sadly, not now. But, maybe it is something you could trial with others. At this point, I think many of us would buy something to help our loved one even if only for awhile. Best to you!

Emily 123

Yes-as yarnball says-this would be good for early stages or MCI, or just being older and not able to keep up with new technology--at some point all the bells and whistles become a distraction. It's a good idea though.

Jasonvonkrueger

Thank you guys for your input. I do greatly appreciate it. You are right. She wouldn't be able to comprehend it. I just didn't want to accept that. She does use her iPhone but mainly to call us 20 times a day. Just because she can press a contact picture to make a call, that doesn't mean she'd understand my app.

The Facer app is really simple. There's no fancy algorithms to figure out faces in an uploaded picture. It's up to the person uploading the picture to upload and tag it appropriately. And it still requires my mom to understand how to use the mobile app to select a number (1, 2, or 3). But I could also build a control board....think shoe box with large buttons on it. It would communicate with the board the same way the mobile app does but it would be a big box with just a few colored and labeled buttons on it. That would be easier than using the phone but I don't know if it would be easy enough.

I do have a public demo site of it for anyone interested. And let me say this: I didn't come here to market a piece of software. I promise. I have 0 interest in trying to make this a product. I made it for my mom but I did build it such that anyone could use it for their purposes as well. What my mom and my family is going through is new to us. I came here to ask more experienced people what they thought about it. That's all.

Again, thanks for your input, guys!!

-Roger (JasonVonKrueger is a mesh of Jason Vorhees and Freddy Krueger)

Jasonvonkrueger

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/187172#Comment_187172

I'll make a run-through with Facer and my mom....just a verbal thing instead of making her press buttons on a phone or a shoe box. And I'll keep you guys posted.

The planner feature was meant for my mom to be aware of but the caregivers manage it. But I see where you're going. It probably wouldn't do her much good but it certainly could be used for the caregivers. They would rely on the 43" board. The phone app, while it does display the events for the purpose of deleting them, its only purpose is to add and remove. I originally designed it to link into her Google account for more flexibility but, unless you have your app/device officially registered with Google, you have to update credentials every two weeks.....that was no good.

conmel99

I would really like to see the demo sight if you don't mind

M1

Note the name-"con me"? Flagged

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