Yahoo News From pain relief to memory prompts: the apps helping people with dementia
As councils struggle to meet soaring demand for adult social care, digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) look set to play a growing role. Although the sector has been seen as slow to pick up on the potential, more and more providers are experimenting with ways to supplement hands-on care.
Pete Dowds, chief executive of Elder, a group which runs care homes and assisted living schemes, says technology-driven solutions must be the way forward. “There will be a million people living with dementia by 2025. It’s clear that digital technology and the use of AI in care homes can play a much greater role.”
In one such innovation, an app and platform called RemindMe is being trialled in a number of care homes as a way of engaging people with dementia. Co-creator Simon Hooper came up with the idea in response to issues in his own family.
“A few years ago, my mother developed the early signs of dementia and I soon realised that she needed some support to enhance and maintain her quality of life,” Hooper says. “An IT colleague and myself devised the concept, which is very easy to use and only requires wifi, a tablet and a TV.
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“The tablet format of the app gives users a range of options, including setting an alert for their medication. The format also suggests music or activities that the person could engage in with their carer or family member, and offers suggestions for activities at different times of the day to encourage people to stay alert.”
One of the homes trialling the app is Sherwood Grange care home in Kingston, south London, run by Care UK. Kimberley Atkin, the home’s lifestyle lead, says the trial has been positive and has shown benefits for carers as well as for residents.
“We have used ‘life story’ picture books for some years, but the advantage of RemindMe is that new pictures can be added all the time. As the family have access to it remotely, their children in Australia, for example, can add new pictures every week, or a message, and this helps to stimulate the resident and sparks conversation.
“In addition, it helps staff to have a focus of attention for interacting with the resident and encourage their participation in activities.”
Another app called PainChek is being used in pain assessments of people with dementia. Developed in Switzerland, the device allows care staff to assess whether the person is in pain and would benefit from pain-relief medication. Such symptoms are often missed or misdiagnosed, resulting in administration of inappropriate antipsychotic drugs. The app, on a smartphone, takes a 10-second video clip of the person’s face and analyses it to check against a criteria used in registering pain (the Abbey pain scale), augmented by replies from the care worker to question prompts on the app.
Jonathan Papworth, co-founder of Person Centred Software, which is marketing the app in the UK, says it has been used successfully in care homes in Australia where it has significantly reduced use of dementia medication.
“For people who are unable to communicate their level of pain, the result can be that they display ‘bad behaviour’ and get angry,” says Papworth. “Behavioural drugs are commonly used in residential care to address challenging behaviour. But without the ability to understand if a person is in pain, the individual may be wrongly diagnosed.”
Papworth says that as much as 30% of behaviour deemed “challenging” in people with dementia could be attributed to untreated pain.
Daniel Throssell, compliance manager for Graham Care, which runs seven care homes in south-east England and has been trialling the app in one, says that the home’s nurses use the app when carrying out a pain assessment. “They like it as it helps them in their clinical decision-making. The other advantage is that it helps build up a picture of the person’s behaviour, and their experience of pain.”
Related: When I was diagnosed with dementia I thought it was the end of the world. It's not
Another care home group, WCS Care, has devised an innovation hub which assesses technology for social care as it emerges. It receives visits from other care providers, academics and politicians interested in its applications.
Christine Asbury, WCS chief executive, says the group has adopted an “acoustic listening” system at night for residents – with their and their families’ consent – which alerts care workers to any unusual noise or activity.
“As we have a limited number of care assistants on duty at night, the system helps them to pick up any potential problems with residents getting up and moving around.”
WCS, which has some 600 residents in 13 care homes, has also adopted a system of electronic care records to help reduce medication errors and identify behavioural issues. “Our ambition for our residents,” Asbury adds, “is to be able to say: ‘That is a day well-lived.’”
