The aim of REMIND is to create an International and Intersectoral staff exchange network to progress developments in reminding technologies for persons with dementia. The focus of REMIND is to develop staff and beneficiary/partner skills in the areas of user centered design and behavioral science coupled with improved computational techniques which in turn will offer more appropriate and effective reminding solutions. Industrial staff will benefit from bi-lateral exchanges from the technical domains of context aware reminding technologies, soft computing, intelligent systems, pervasive computing and the psychological domain of behaviour change. The academic beneficiaries will benefit from gaining experience in the development of industrial standard software conforming to ISO and medical standards, engagement with stakeholders through a user centred design process and working with organisations delivering care to the elderly and persons with dementia.
People with mild dementia generally exhibit impairments of memory, reasoning and thought. As a result, they require varying levels of support to complete everyday activities and to maintain a level of independence. Yet for many a live-in carer is neither practical nor affordable. It is evidenced, however, that the cost of dementia might be meaningfully reduced through improvements in care and support for these people and their carers, avoiding future admissions and better clinical management. That is where assistive technologies may provide an opportunity to alleviate the burden faced as a result of this disease. Specifically, the integration of reminding technologies within the everyday lives of people with dementia has been shown to be a popular approach. Reminders are a core component of many assistive technology systems and are aimed specifically at helping people with dementia function more independently by compensating for cognitive deficits.
It is envisioned that REMIND will greatly improve the overarching effectiveness of reminding technologies, leading to increased uptake and the creation of innovative products. The benefits to people with dementia will be increased independence and improvements in quality of life.
The Objectives of the Project are:
-to embed behavioral science into the process of reminding solutions
-to advance the state of the art in intelligent data analysis in support of improving reminding technologies
-to optimise of sensor network configurations within smart environments
