One Click to know Dementia
Cognitive Games and All Rounded Supporting Tool
The Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing
Dementia is not a disease. It categorically describes a set of symptoms which includes a decline in or loss of memory or other thinking and language skills that affect a person’s ability to perform everyday activities. According to the research by the Department of Health and Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2006, it is estimated that 1 in 10 people aged 65 or above in Hong Kong show symptoms of dementia. As Hong Kong population is aging, it is likely that more and more people will suffer from dementia in coming future.
The Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing (JCCPA), managed by Chinese University of Hong Kong, dedicates its resources to improving the care of people with dementia and their care-givers. With funding from the Office of Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), JCCPA decided to develop a digital inclusion mobile app known as “One Click to Know Dementia” with the following objectives:
- To enable people with dementia to practice brain health exercise
- To give support to both people with dementia and their care-givers
- To assist early detection of people with dementia
The target users of the app can be classified into 3 groups:
People with Dementia
As people of dementia are suffering different degrees of memory loss, some may not remember how to go back home after they have gone out. With the help of built-in GPS function of mobile phones, the app user can press “My Location” button to find his/her current location on the Google Map. If he/she needs help, he/she can press the button of “Calling Family Member” at the bottom of the map to make a phone call to his selected family member. Furthermore, only the user’s nickname, his/her GPS location and the emergency email list are uploaded to the backend server which will then send out email(s) of user’s location to all members of the emergency contact list. For protecting the personal privacy of the user, the server will delete the user’s nickname, his/her GPS location and emergency email list once the location notification email(s) is/are distributed.
Making use of the touch screen capabilities of mobile phone, five interactive cognitive games were developed with the purpose of training the brains of people with dementia. The games aim to train short-term memory, mental calculation and simply logic deduction.
Care-givers of people with Dementia
The app also provides links to community resources that help people of different degrees of dementia and their family members.
General public who worry about the risk of developing dementia
The app provides a 10-step assessment check-list for assessing family members who are suspected to suffer from dementia. It also provides a knowledge base of dementia.
The app considered and catered for the needs of people with visual impairment, hearing impairment as well as people with other special needs. Thus the color contrast, the font-size and the navigation flow passed the standard of Mobile App Accessibility Recognition Scheme Gold standard.
This function makes use of the GPS location feature of mobile phones to help the people of dementia to know his/her current locations when they are out on the streets and seek help if he/she loses his way. It also updates the user’s family members of the user’s current location when they are out.
5 cognitive games help people of dementia to train their short-term memory, simple logic deduction and mental calculation.
A simple 10-step assessment checklist helps the user to assess whether his/her family member is suffering from dementia. The assessment result is shown immediately to the user. If there are symptoms of dementia, the user is advised to attempt a longer checklist at www.adcarer.com or call up JCCPA for professional advice.
A carefully-indexed knowledge base introducing dementia, types of dementia, types of diagnostics, tips and skills of taking care of people with dementia and community resources.
There is a quick and simple search of helpful resources available for people with different degrees of dementia and their care-givers in different districts in Hong Kong.
This app attained the Gold Award of Mobile App Accessibility Recognition Scheme 2015 which was jointly organized by the Office of Government Chief Information Officer and the Equal Opportunity Commission. The app was launched in February 2015 and has received overwhelming response since then.
