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Product development

Products and technology for dementia

Ideas listing

7 Ideas
23 Votes
23 Comments
12 Participants

Which products help people with dementia the most?

Alzheimer's Society’s Online Shop sells a wide range of assistive products to help people affected by dementia to live better and longer in their homes (find our Online Shop here). We call these, 'helpful everyday products', and they include easy-to-use telephones, clocks and watches, reminders, adaptive clothing, home safety devices, tactile and sensory products and a wide range of games and activities.

The Online Shop is asking for your help in sharing new ways to improve their product range...

We want to understand:
Which is the most helpful product or technology that you use on a daily basis? Are there any problems with current products or technologies that you use?

Please share your views below by clicking 'share your experiences'.

We welcome contributions from people with dementia, those supporting someone with dementia, and professionals.

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Top Contributors
  1. Margaret Booth
    55 pts
  2. Jennifer Bute
    30 pts
  3. Alexander Watson
    30 pts
  4. Claire...
    16 pts
  5. Stephen Mitchell
    15 pts

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Idea thumbnail

Clocks and remote controls

The most helpful was very simple it was a day date clock.  It was important for my dad to know the day and the date, so he would ask often.  We also made block that counted down to important events.

1 Score
Comments 1
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Bed bumpers

We found these invaluable. They make you roll back to the centre of the bed if you get too close to the edge whilst  asleep. They do squash down if you are sitting up on the edge but push your centre of gravity backward so you have to make a positive effort to get up from the bed. If you just fall asleep sitting up you will fall backwards into the bed rather than forward to the floor. There are no hard or rigid parts....

3 Score
Comments 1
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Alarm when someone leaves the house

One thing that a few carers I have talked to want is an alarm that phones them when the person with dementia goes out of the house. It is when the person with dementia lives separately to the carer. There are various solutions at the moment but all of them have problems. You can buy a tracker which tells you where they are and can be geofenced. The problem is these devices have to be charged every day. There are some watches that perform a similar task but if you read the reviews on places...

3 Score
Comments 2
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Easy Read Instructions.

I like easy read.   https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/disability/easyread/ Easy Read was developed for people with learning difficulties but  is useful for other people. Writing instructions or explanations in easy read helps to  simplify information.  What do other people think?

2 Score
Comments 8
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Alexa - programmers please think twice

I think the next generation of inventors do need to get out on the ground and in people’s shoes to CO-create solitons.  I fear innovators are often stuck away in offices remote from reality.  My mother is totally blind and now has Alzheimer’s, so has a growing number of basic questions all day that help her keep going.  Without any visual stimuli to help her during the day and night, (and with my exhausted father needing a rest) she heavily relies on Alexa to answer her many...

6 Score
Comments 5
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Reminder pill box

My grandad has mild cognitive impairment and looks after my grandma who lives with mixed dementia.  Their pill boxes are clearly labelled, portion out the medication they each take everyday and have AM and PM reminders to take relevant pills. This has been hugely helpful to minimise the need for in-home support, but also serves as a helpful flag for formal and informal carers who can quickly see if a dose has been missed when they check-in. An improvement might look like a pill box that...

3 Score
Comments 4
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Daily Dose of Candy Crush

My mother-in-law is living with early-onset dementia. She doesn't use much technology, but her iPad serves some really important purposes.  She plays Candy Crush and does an online puzzle on her iPad everyday. She gets a real sense of satisfaction on completing a level. She doesn't use a PC, so using an iPad makes online activities accessible to her.  She also takes her iPad out and about. She takes photos of people and places to and uses them as a prompt to help her tell people what she...

5 Score
Comments 2