Tech to Aid Dementia Patients

GPs may start prescribing low-cost tools to dementia patients to help them live at home for longer.

22:50 12 June 2019

Scientists at Imperial College London are currently working at a new £20 million research centre for the development of technology to help dementia patients live at home longer. Some of the tools being considered are devices that track vital signs, sensors that monitor activity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) that detect changes in behaviour. The project aims to help patients and their carers better manage their condition outside of hospitals and care homes and cut hospital admissions from preventable illnesses and falls.

 

 

 

Professor David Sharp, head of the new centre, said: "This project will help those living with dementia stay in their own homes for longer, with the dignity and independence we all deserve."

 

 

 

“The GP might have a dashboard of different apps or different ways of engaging with people that they select, and then give a personalised package of apps that are particularly relevant to individuals,” he said.

 

 

 

“I think we are not that far away from having that level of electronic engagement.”

 

 

 

He added: “You might have your dementia engineer come over and deploy the technology into your home, and that would provide the kind of information that we are talking about.

 

 

 

“So this may sound like science fiction, but I think many of the elements of this are in place.”