On a recent visit to Age Connects Torfaen, I was reminded how during the pandemic we tried to find ways of holding each other close while physically apart.

Age Connects Torfaen, a charity with 30 years’ experience of supporting people living with dementia, is using its knowledge and experience to help develop a new mobile phone app designed to help and support people living with early stage dementia and their carers.

The app particularly aims to address the challenges associated with ‘sundowning syndrome’ which sees people living with dementia experience increased distress and agitation during the late afternoon to early evening as daylight fades.

These symptoms significantly impact the wellbeing of people living with dementia and their carers, often leading to psychological and physical pressures for both the individuals and the carers.

The app offers personalised visual and spoken instructions to remind people with dementia to brush their teeth or to drink regularly. It also encourages individuals to participate in playing board games or relaxation exercises, either individually or in group setting.

Participants can also look at familiar photos or listen to favourite music. The app also incorporates an intelligent agent, such as ChatGPT, to facilitate human-like discussions.

Dementia has long been an issue close to my heart, so it was really fantastic to see and hear how Age Connects had used its expertise to work with Cardiff Metropolitan University to develop the app, known as MemoryConnect, to support people living with dementia and their carers.

The academics at the showcasing of the new app emphasised how the AI-assisted support system would help relive the burden on carers and alleviate the strain on social and healthcare services.

By empowering people living with dementia, the app aims to enhance their confidence in living independently. The project team said their ultimate goal was to have a positive impact on dementia care across the globe.

Emma Wootten, development manager at Age Connects Torfaen, said that people living with dementia and their carers had been involved right from the start of the development of the app.

The app was developed as a result of Age Connects Torfaen and Cardiff Metropolitan University receiving a £80,000 grant as semi-finalists in the first stage of the Longitude Prize on Dementia. The finalists will be announced this summer.

The Longitude Prize on Dementia is a £4.42 million prize programme designed to incentivise the next generation of assistive technologies for people living with dementia.