Lisburn-based tech firm Scaffold Digital is developing a new smartphone app designed to help those living with dementia to catalogue and hold onto precious memories.
Over half a million people in the UK currently suffer from some form of dementia, with over 14,000 people in Northern Ireland currently having a dementia diagnosis. Those living with dementia can have problems with everyday living and may require a carer, but one of the most distressing parts of the illness for many is losing precious family memories.
Northern Irish tech firm Scaffold Digital, based in Lisburn, is now in the final stages of developing a new app that it hopes will help those with dementia hold on to their memories. The InspireD app helps those living with dementia or their carers and families to build a digital memory book full of important photos, videos, and audio. It allows users to organise and preserve their memories and record voice notes.
"For most people, the thought of a dementia diagnosis and the fear of losing their ability to recall treasured memories is devastating," explained Ulster University Professor of Ageing and Health Assumpta Ryan, who has been working with Scaffold Digital on the project. "Our recent research which used an iPad to help 60 people living with dementia to reminisce showed how important it is for people to focus on the memories that they still have, rather than thinking about what is lost."
The app features a simple guided process for uploading photos and videos, and it's hoped that the stored clips can be used as part of reminiscence therapies and to help prompt conversations about the user's life. The app was commissioned by NI healthcare authorities and has been developed in partnership with the Health and Social Care Board NI (HSCB) and Ulster University.
Before it's approved for use in a medical capacity, the app must be assessed to see if it meets a rigorous set of clinical standards, minimum standards of security, and to ensure it remains usable by those with dementia. If approved, the app will be recommended to those living with dementia and their carers, and it's hoped it will be available as early as this summer.
Scaffold Digital's Managing Director Tim Proctor commented on the app: "Everyone of us is made up of a story of events and connections and when a person is diagnosed with dementia those memories that make up our lives are suddenly at risk of fading or even disappearing. With InspireD we can assist in safeguarding the occasions, people and circumstances that have shaped those living with dementia through visual and vocal triggers."
Source: Written based on press release
